Martha @ Tramway
Move's Martha is self-contained, confident and wry - the intimate detail lost in Tramway's post-industrial space.
| 12 Nov 2006
Richard Move's cabaret about the mother of contemporary dance has become an underground sensation for lovers of dance and camp. Straddling an uncomfortable divide between arch parody and academic tribute, it presents Martha Graham as pretentious diva and cultural innovator. This tension between two visions provides an unsatisfying dynamic, leaping between reverence and mockery.
The accurate reconstructions of her work - radical fifty years ago, now integrated into the repertoire of Classical Ballet - are stunning, even as Martha's tremulous announcements isolate her as naïve. Her contribution to the revolution from nineteenth century formalism is acknowledged. Her impact, however, is described rather than felt. Move's Martha is self-contained, confident and wry - the intimate detail lost in Tramway's post-industrial space.
In spite of the inappropriate venue, and the awkward gap between the competing visions of the Grand Dame, Martha @ Tramway is a concise delight, alternating humour and intensity, without integrating into a whole.
The accurate reconstructions of her work - radical fifty years ago, now integrated into the repertoire of Classical Ballet - are stunning, even as Martha's tremulous announcements isolate her as naïve. Her contribution to the revolution from nineteenth century formalism is acknowledged. Her impact, however, is described rather than felt. Move's Martha is self-contained, confident and wry - the intimate detail lost in Tramway's post-industrial space.
In spite of the inappropriate venue, and the awkward gap between the competing visions of the Grand Dame, Martha @ Tramway is a concise delight, alternating humour and intensity, without integrating into a whole.
Tramway, Glasgow.
Run ended.
Run ended.