avoiDance, a company who describe themselves as ‘fusing live theatre and cinematography to create distinct performances’ put two dance works together in their program Reel Perspectives, although it wasn’t obvious to me when the first work stopped and the second began. The tone remained much the same throughout; the sense of darkness and exploration was tangible, but more dynamics would have been appreciated.
Lighting served to highlight the dancers’ movements and provided atmosphere for the performance. There were also some interesting moments in the film clips shown but only enough to whet my appetite for more. From reading the programme notes it becomes clear that avoiDance is dealing with complex themes- among them uncertainty, isolation and perspective. Their practice is obviously steeped in theory, but there is an insularity to their delivery making it difficult for the audience to find the story behind the performance. That aside, the dancers were clearly talented and I enjoyed watching their bodies move through the space. The black box studio was quite small for the 8 dancers but they used the space well with choreography that embraced the dancers as a collective rather than as individuals. Overall, this is an interesting show from a young and earnest company with the potential to produce potent works based on their abilities as makers and dancers.
