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Ockham’s Razor is minimalist circus. The name refers to the medieval rule of parsimony – 'reject irrelevant complexity' – a rule followed by the inventive but simple aerial equipment specially designed for each piece. This is gently hypnotic, occasionally comic, and always intriguing dance theatre on high. The start of the first piece Arc was atmospheric, with three performers slumped on a flimsy raft suspended above the stage. It felt as though we hanging in the gloom of the ocean, observing the aftermath of a shipwreck from beneath. At first, the trio teetered around the dangerous edges of the eternal triangle, oscillating from playfulness to cruelty. Jealousy led to dramatic upheavals, quite literally, as the metal frame began to spin out of control. Humanity prevailed when the three realised they needed each other to survive, and the piece ended in optimism as they mastered the waves. The duet Memento Mori won the Jeunes Talents Cirque award in 2004 when premiered at Theatre de la Cite Internationale in Paris. The dancing explored all possible ways of dealing with the inevitable: red-clad life fought, played, trusted, and eventually submitted to the ghostly white personification of death. Life was by turns languid and defiant, death sinuous and muscular. The lack of resolution in the music and the suggestion of a return to the foetal position hinted at the potential for rebirth – perhaps. Every Action… was light-hearted visual metaphor based on a long piece of rope and two pulleys which pointed to a more than physical interpretation of Newton’s Third Law – For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction: The total interdependence of people, the co-operation required for the game to go on, the ways in which we help and hinder each other, and how we sometimes refuse to see the simple solution to a problem. As a performer rolled brilliantly down a loop in the rope, I thought about how much possibility there is in the human body. Let's all get out of our heads more often! If you missed this performance you can see Ockham’s Razor on Youtube. Nancy Gladstone (DI Reviewer), 31/07/08 |
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