The title of Fin Walker's striking piece - 5 2 10 - is not, as I suspected, text-speak for some significant time, but a reference to the work's components: five duets, two solos, and the ten instruments required by Ben Park's compelling score, played on stage by just three musicians - Park himself, Stephen Gibson and Fiona Troon. Another mystery was what the four dancers were doing between the seven sections, sweeping the stage at speed with large brooms. Apparently, they were making patterns in a layer of shredded bark on the stage, but this could not be seen from the stalls.
The dances are based on the seven yogic chakras, the energy systems of the body, each representing a different spiritual life-lesson. We move from the base chakra and our connection to the earth and society, through to the final "crown", and our ability to connect to spirit, God, higher power and the universe.
To illustrate these energy systems Walker has crafted a series of austere, sculptural dances, deliberately devoid of any hint of fluid, lyrical phrasing. Instead, she presents us with a series of striking images, with the dancers moving from one fixed position to another in a series of jerky, athletic surges.
In the duets dancers often use cantilever techniques to support each other in extraordinary horizontal poses. These pieces search out the courage and technique of the four performers - the opening solo is of almost impossible length for a single dancer to sustain - and they also create a kind of other-worldly calm, an atmosphere greatly enhanced by Lucy Carter's excellent lighting. Talking of which - there is not enough of it to read your programme notes during the performance, and few will know or have memorised the chakras, so this is a work which, for most, has to be appreciated simply as a series of abstract dances.They are dances of little warmth, but of great fascination.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article