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Stepmother/Stepfather
DanceXchange
Patrick Centre
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** DIRECTOR and
choreographer Arthur Pita and his company, HeadSpaceDance, created a
dark look at folklore and the macabre with
Stepmother/Stepfather
at the launch of DanceEchange’s new season. The double bill reimagines the happy endings of
fairy tales that we are all so used to from childhood, and turns them
into dark and twisted avenues of make believe. Pita shows that there are
indeed two sides to every story, and his point of view opens a new
interpretation to the original style of the gruesome themes of folklore. Stepmother
is the first performance of the night and within it, there are
suggestions of the stories we already know, but Pita’s vision is
completely new and these fairy tales are mere themes that gives way to a
gruesome world of the wrath of the Stepmother. The piece presents a multitude of fairy tales and
turns them into stories never mentioned before. The performance starts
with an image of Snow White lying dead within the glass coffin. Once she
is taken out, the dark and gruesome underworld is lavishly revealed. One
story leads to the next and shows us the villain’s viewpoint. The
protagonist’s journey becomes completely different when the wicked
Stepmother finally gets their way. There are heavy suggestions of the ethereal and
Godliness throughout Stepmother. It shows the idea of darkness within
every light situation. The accompanying music is of a classical church
choir and is serene and calming. Along with this, we watch the dark and
gruesome tales of abuse take place. The company also present holy motives throughout
the piece, for example during a sequence of movement that saw a naked
male hoisted up in the air, creating a crucifix image, or a little girl
in a white dress in a sequence with ladies dressed in black robes and
white collars, much like nuns giving communion offerings. The cast, in both productions are brilliant.
Christoper Akrill, Valentina Golfieri, Clemmie Sveaas, Karl Fagerlund
Brekke, Nadia Adame and Nathan Goodman are a testament to Pita’s darkly
intense imagination and bring out the alternative underworld with
striking performances and chilling images. Stepfather
is an original piece from Pita which was first seen in 2007 and
Stepmother
was the piece to coincide with this. Its tone is definitely upbeat in
nature, but its themes are incredibly sinister. It could be said that
this is a modern interpretation of the original ideas of folklore and
story-telling. Pita uses modern country music laden with banjos and
immersive lyrics from the American folk punk band
Violent Femmes.
While Stepmother
presented us with alternative narratives from the characters within
folklore tales, Stepfather
presents us with a straight narrative. With a family of husband wife and
three girls, the horrific story goes beyond love, lust and death and was
played out in an electrifyingly macabre style. Stepfather
is a world like no other, and presents a hellish atmosphere in which
nobody would choose to live. The juxtaposition between the upbeat music
and the glamourous design of Simon Daw opened the terrifying atmosphere
to the story of incest and life beyond death. Pita has no limit when
it comes to creating striking images and well-imagined stories. The cast
do well to embody Pita’s deliciously dark visions through both pieces.
He has an excellent imagination and
Stepmother/Stepfather is a great
testament to modern dance theatre. With vibrant costume and fantastic
choreography, Pita gives an evening to stimulate the imagination that
leads us into his dark world of nightmares and stories told like never
before. Elizabeth Halpin 16-02-17 |
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