By Elisabeth Easther - 21 Mar 2011
My tastes, tendencies and preferences usually lead me to plays and musical performances, comedy too, and not just in this festival but in life in general.
So the last two nights I decided to see two things outside my
area of understanding. I really loved them both although I'm not
sure I have a vocabulary to describe or explain them or indeed do
them justice, but I'll try.
Modern Dance is something I've seen very little of, but when the
chance to see the legendary Douglas Wright's Rapt came along, I
knew I had to take it. I cant tell you what happened or what it was
about but I can tell you the company, the choreography and just
everything had my mouth hanging open with wonder. Just go, if you
are a fan of modern dance go, if you're not, try something outside
your comfort zone, I did and I was blown away. It's so theatrical
and not just dance per se, the images were amazing, it was
evocative, I think it was about life, like watching a sumptuous
painting come to life. It was muscular, animal, ornithological
even. It's not about rationality, it's about subconscious
comprehension and the sets and costumes were staggering.
Then last night I saw the Swiss troupe of two (can you be a
troupe of two? I don't know but you know what I mean) perform the
acclaimed Gaff Aff.
DJ, Dimitri de Perrot and performer, Martin Zimmermann, who is
part dancer, mime, comedian, contortionist, puppeteer and clown,
had the audience transfixed.
These two shows push the human body beyond what you'd consider
possible, the limits of endurance are tested and both companies
astounded me with their ability to tell a story without resorting
to run of the mill stuff like talking or text.