Dance Base presents three different pieces by three very different companies. These three companies allow a sampling of completely unrelated forms of dance and, unfortunately, two out of the three dont quite make the cut.
The triple bill opens with Samudras The Sound of Silence. This is, by far, the highlight of three. Samudra presents an athletic and strong piece that is executed with a great deal of masculine grace. It is beautiful to watch and leaves you wishing it was longer.
The piece that follows is The X Factor Dance Companys Certain Shadows on the Wall. A couple begins to feud around a kitchen table and, despite the fact that one would expect the energy of the dancing to match, it doesnt. The choreography is boring and one gets the feeling that one has seen some version of this piece countless times by numerous companies.
Most irritating of the three is Freshmess Vinyl Lino. The tagline for their piece is What if hip-hop had emanated from Broxburn and not the Bronx? Well, I can assure you that this is exactly what it would look like. Sloppy, lacking effort and ordinary. There are two performers in the company, however, who are exceptional. This often makes me incredibly uncomfortable since it only makes the weaker dancers look more ridiculous.