*** (3 Stars)
“Wonderfully expressive”
The Fringe programme lists the Yehyo Dance Company (UK/China/ Taiwan) as the group performing Dragon: I’ve tried but failed to find any more information about them, which is a pity, as I’d like to know more.
Six performers, five female, one male, are joined on stage by an extraordinary device. From a large white box on castors protrudes a construction which is multi-jointed and very flexible – as if an elephant’s trunk had been made from a variety of sections of metallic tubes, culminating in a thin nozzle-like structure which looks as though it has an eye or some other sort of aperture at its upper end. At first this box stands at the side of the performing area, but later it is moved into and becomes a part of the action in continually changing and inventive ways. The ‘trunk’ moves and flexes as if it’s a living Creature, silently and gracefully moving through the air that surrounds it.
The six performers are exceptionally talented dancers, acrobats and gymnasts. Their hands and feet are extraordinarily flexible and expressive, their movements a mixture of contemporary dance, tai chi, acrobatics and freestyle gymnastics. They dance singly, in pairs, in groups, and all together – with an impressive and at times frightening synchronicity. Their movements are fluid, graceful, and strong, at times resembling water, growing plants or moving animals: at others they become almost robotic, mechanical, angular. They move in three dimensions – not simply across the floor, but down on to the floor and up into the air, almost but not quite flying.
They move into and out of the light and through the smoke that billows from the wings. Behind them is a shifting kaleidoscope of images; the sounds they move to have equally near-infinite variety. They are both extremely technically accomplished and wonderfully expressive. Their costumes are a wonderful assemblage of black, white and silver fabrics: their faces sparkle with glittering makeup. The whole effect is most impressive, and the final scene where a pyramid of performers stretched up from the floor to make face-to-face contact with The Creature.
All this said, they were also afflicted with technical problems. At times the box-creature didn’t want to play and had to have attention from a black-clad stagehand, resulting in some lengthy pauses. The backdrop of black curtains was not stretched tight, so the projected images got lost in the folds of the fabric. Most frustratingly, when a colourful series of pictures accompanied a narrative in [I think] Chinese, it was almost impossible to read the English subtitles which would have made the whole show make more sense.
These things apart, it was an excellent show which the audience greatly appreciated.
Dragon, The Fringe, C Arts Aurora, Venue 6, Run Ended, For more information go to: Dragon | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
ScotsGay Arts 