The setting was suitably dark, forboding, surreal. A dimly-lit checker-top table with players/partners/roleplayers/the collective/the community; seated on either side.
Suddenly, still seated, they morph into life; characteristic chesspiece forms displayed through postures of the upper body, arms and head. The traditional game opens as a "pawn" moves to centrestage. The others follow in turn, specific, energy brimming, reflecting the emotion of postures; of discussion, of courtship, of ritual in the game, as in life.
The dancers costumed in effecient jeans-like trousers and tank tops (ladies) or bare chested (men) overlaid with bodypaint, earth and grey-tone layered merging bands. Lighting selection and effects maintained ambience and surreality very well.
The rules of the game cycle a few times; attraction, flirtation, seduction; conflict, rejection emerging with mesmerising nuance. A distinct edginess amidst electro music and soundscapes of loud jangling, staccato, bassy rhythms driving on and on. Moments of stillness were atmospheric to a knife edge and clearly showed the high standard of training of the dancers. Some dynamic moments directly on the "chessboard" table and others on the stagefloor helped to re-focus audience attention. Bodies moving in sometimes alluring, sometimes sexy, sometimes animalistic rhythm. Fluid, precise even militaristic group movements break into couples, where the performers took their bodies to the physical and emotional limits. The soloists were superb and all the cast were a joy to watch. The themes are thoroughly internalised, kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The endgame emerges with powerful thrust.
I loved it.
Jay Williams
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