REVIEW: Resolution!: Sigh, Pauline Raineri, Foskett-Piccolo Dance Company

Sat 31 Jan

The Place

Resolution!

Sigh Kasa

Pauline Raineri Si | Si

Foskett-Piccolo Dance Company Woven

I had a great deal of hope for Sigh tonight. A theatrical opening sees a performer gliding through a bright corridor of light with a Japanese oil-paper umbrella. Light hearted expressions of surprise with toothy smiles charm us. But sequences of desperate clutching, unrelenting longing gazes, and the ascension of the umbrella on a wire cable soon indicate the subject of dark obsession. Yet, despite the potential within Kasa’s themes, a solid connection between the dancers is needed for the themes to be fully realised.

In a narrow band of light, which illuminates only their bare legs, dancers Amy Foskett and Giovanna Piccolo flex, flick and pad their feet in slick unison. Pealing their t-shirts over their heads, Woven attempts to explore connections and relationships in the body. Again however, the message needs a little more direction and coherence before we can fully believe in the performance.

Finally, sandwiched between Kasa and Woven, French choreographer Pauline Raineri presents an incredibly honest investigation into the depths of despair and the reality of escape.  At the back of the dark, smoke filled stage dancer Erin O’Reilly is a writhing mass of unfurling arms and trembling limbs. Composer Louis Richard’s bleak landscape of static noise couples fittingly with O’Reilly’s lost expression. She tugs anxiously at her clothes and fingers, stumbling about the stage as she flees an inevitable confrontation. Si | Si is intensely experienced and lived by both soloist and audience. O’Reilly offers a performance with total conviction, which resonates profoundly with everyone.

Maya Pindar

See the official review posted on The Place's Resolution Review! Blog here: http://www.theplace.org.uk/blog/resolution-review-2016/sat-30-jan-foskett-piccolo-dance-companypauline-rainerisigh

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