Motionhouse Dance Theatre, The Point, Eastleigh
HELP - I'm having a dilemma!
I want to say that Motionhouse Dance Theatre's latest show Fearless, performed at The Point as part of the arts centre's current dance festival, was a brave and challenging example of modern dance at its very best - as, according to other reviewers, it is.
An atmospheric hour of extreme physical drama combining dance, mime and jaw-dropping feats of gymnastic excellence, its various elements brought together to form an exquisite whole which casts new light on some of the darkest corners of the human psyche.
I want to - but I don't think I can. I don't consider myself particularly reactionary, but when it comes to modern dance, I'm afraid I just don't get it.
Don't get me wrong - I can see the three young dancers who make up this highly-respected company are extremely talented dancers.
But the end result of their labours seems designed to bore and confuse. We are told the show is about fear - so I failed to grasp the relevance of the pot-plant and pair of shoes which were levered, with heavy significance, into every routine.
The performance as a whole is overflowing with its own secret symbolism - but that's something that's probably true of a great deal of modern dance.
Motionhouse really come into their own when they concentrate on the dancing, which is occasionally brilliant.
The trouble is there's too little of that and too much messing about with house plants.
So ditch the aspidistras, Motionhouse. After all, you wouldn't expect modern dance at a garden centre, would you?
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