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BE FestivalBirmingham RepThursday, 26th June, 2015
***** Tristissimo
ITALIAN dance duo C&C from Italy made
their entrance to the BE Festival on Thursday and explored the theme of
desire. Based on Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, C&C
performers Carlo Massari and Chiara Taviani created an intense and
powerful piece that showed the ultimate need for contact, but never
achieving it. In an interestingly poignant and funny performance, they
took inspiration from various sources and created a poetically intense
narrative through their skill of visual movement. They danced on a bare white floor which alluded
to the vulnerability of the characters portrayed through their slick
movement. Massari and Taviani had excellent skills, but the beauty of
this performance was shown when they came together in an intensity of
emotion and expression through beautiful choreography to create their
story. The use of props was a touching element
complementing the story and feelings of what they wanted to express. A
long weave of hair was used to create beautiful and funny imagery to
represent an incredibly complex relationship. The charming addition of
music highlighted their skill and precision of dance. With an echo of sadness, Massari and Taviana
showed a strong representation of a closeness that can never be achieved
between two people and offered their unique way of telling the story
through their captivating form of dance. Devoration
Theatre du Baleti are a daring dance company from France who have no fear. Their piece spoke so loud and resonated with the audience about the idea of victim and that there is never a positive gained through war. This piece is
incredibly hard-hitting and equally as movin Their piece started with a vague picture,
allowing the audience’s mind to wonder as to what the piece was going to
convey. As the story went on, nudity played an integral part to the
piece and was certainly a clear message to represent the frailty of the
victim. Through the performers bodies, we saw pain and pleasure resonate
through every limb of the anatomy. The nudity was unexpected, but the
audience did not seem phased because it worked perfectly well with the
concept of the struggle for power and the tragedy of the everyday person
being the victim. Theatre du Beleti showed the idea of pain and
suffering on a wide and universal scale, as well as an individual and
basis. A powerful moment was seen when a performer stood in front of
multiple microphones, which gave a booming effect of sound, and listed
wars throughout the history of the world in French. As we looked at the
English surtitles, the hard-hitting effect of the vastness of war
provoked thoughts as to the never ending victim. The performance ended with seeing the victim in
a domestic setting. Fantastic movement and choreography was shown which
created a huge impact as the eleven performers created a strong
ensemble. In the last sequence, we were drawn to a group
of brides, firstly being shown affection and tenderness by their
respective grooms. As the sequence went on, the audience were opened to
a dark and sinister world until a faded blackout, showing the escalation
of violence and pain between each person. Theatre du Baleti tested the boundaries of pain
and pleasure, fantastically highlighting each extremity. Through the
unbelievable skill of each performer and a thought-provoking concept, it
invited a whole range of ideas and areas of discussion for the audience. Athletes
Riccardo Buscarini are from the UK and Italy and presented their interpretation of the relationship between human and technology. Performers Harriet Bone, Karolina Kraczkowska
and Victoria Hoyland presented a show that was intense and intimate,
giving a close insight of their opinion of man and machine. We watched with a complete white wash over the
stage. Performers were dressed in crisp white suits covering the
entirety of their bodies, leaving nothing but the face to be seen. They
performed on a bare stage of white canvas, indicating a mechanical
online world. The production was technically brilliant,
challenging the audience to think about the superiority of the machine,
or the intelligence of man. Each performer demonstrated their own skill
of movement and as they worked together, creating a strong imagery.. With the addition of a futuristic lighting
design by Maxime Franzetti, we were instantly taken to their futuristic
landscape. The backdrop of music was used to a minimal effect, allowing
the audience to be taken in by performance alone, which created an
eeriness and gave way to the unknown. The performance challenged and dared what we
think about every day, the unknowing of the future and how far
technology can go in the future. This performance was technically great
and very unlike other performances of its’s kind.
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