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Brilliant performance about hedonistic play

Review by dance critic Sara Meidell, Västerbottens-Kuriren.

The first time I saw the rainbow coloured feather duster in the hands of Martin Forsberg’s dancers was in 2016 during a rehearsal for ULTRA, a piece about the consuming power of groups. It is a fond reunion to see that it now is part of the multitude of cleaning tools that filled the Black Box on Thursday evening.

It will be nothing if not clean when Forsberg, in collaboration with Norrdans tackle another classic, in a death-defyingly playful spirit, with a throw back to last autumn and the company’s celebrated Pianofavourites.

A contemporary Rite of Spring which kept true to the original would almost certainly evoke the same disgust as it did during its premiere, but today for the female victim of course. To his credit, Martin Forsberg opts out of strained attempts to force the theme into a contemporary context. What we get instead is a piece centred around the more naked rite.

It’s been a long time since so many props could be found on stage at the same time during a dance performance. But every little piece of string, every rake, dish brush, cable pipe, or roll of tape has its place. Floors and walls are dominated by plastic, a material of death with the potential to suffocate, both momentarily and eternally alive – everything is fleeting yet brand new, when surrounded by its audience, the three-headed ensemble let it rip.

It has also been a long time since such a genius and artistic display of the dynamics of play – Norrdans manage to stay within the forcefield between that which is totally free and intuitive agreements that are made in the moment. While there is total conviction of purpose and direction, the rules of the game are negotiated in the here and now, moment by moment. And just like Pianofavourites was, this classic is affectionately reflected in a laughing mirror with caricatured movements, which are nevertheless brilliant. 

Fast throws and lunges, and running races is replaced by the quiet sculpting of things and body parts. High jumps, mid-air twists and hasty regroupings intertwine with parallel events going on in the periphery; small chamber plays for select sections of the audience, where a rubber glove can be a brass section on a taped-up mini-stage, or a stack of earplugs can become whatever it wants in the hands of a spectator.

A highly charged choreographed running race makes for a rousing final scene that pays homage to the revolt of the 1913 premiere: the explosive raging play. You might not get more hedonism and revolt than that in a neo-authoritarian 2022.

Click here to find the original review in Swedish.