Voyeur / Samba & Love ☆☆☆☆
Dance Base (Venue 22) until 24 August
This dynamic double bill from Brazil’s São José dos Campos Dance Company is an hour of slick, engaging contemporary dance that never lets the pace drop for a single second.
Relentless (in a good way) in her capacity to drive the dancers from one highly-charged moment to the next, choreographer Lili de Grammont takes us inside two aspects of modern life. In Voyeur, we find a group of people seated in a circle, while a relationship
plays out in the middle. The couple at the centre work through a myriad of
sensual,, romantic, sometimes brittle connections, all under the watchful gaze of strangers.
As a metaphor for the way so many lives, both famous and otherwise, are carried out under the glare of social media, it hits the spot. During one routine, two hand-held flashlights are pointed at the central performers, giving them no means of escape from the harsh intrusion. But these moments of coupledom are just one aspect of Voyeur – de Grammont keeps the whole ensemble (all dressed in funkily-cut sharp suits) busy with energised
synchronised choreography.
Barely able to draw breath during a short costume change, the same talented dancers give their all once again in Samba & Love, another astute look into life’s less attractive corners.
This time, de Grammont turns her lens on the all-too prevalent nature of burnout, and the wellness industry that feeds off it. Here, the rhythmic soundtrack echoes the frenetic busyness of modern life, while voiceovers deliver the words of wisdom we’re all well versed in (“listen to your body” ).
Pulling an inflatable sofa onto the stage, three dancers take part in a panel discussion about how to look after ourselves. But, somewhat inevitably, thev like most of us – are soon drawn back into the chaos.
