Stunning moves mesmerise all

Just the mere sound of a ‘vertical dance performance’ would sound dizzying to some. But if one had witnessed the recently performed ‘Cette immense intimité’ (‘This Immense Intimacy’) at Phoenix MarketCity, the amazement of the technique would have left them dumbfounded. 

The showcase was held as part of Institut Francais’ ongoing ‘Danse Dialogues 2014’ series and was a stunning production by Compagnie Retouramont, which was choreographed by Fabrice Guillot and performed by Olivia Cubero.

The outside wall of a mall may seem slightly odd for creating an experience of this nature. 

Despite the crowd having the option of not watching and resuming their shopping, most of those who caught a glimpse of the set-up and movements stayed back till the end. 

Defying the forces of gravity, Olivia moved laterally and vertically while suspended on an elastic rope, allowing her movements to guide her dance. 

But while the dance itself was one thing, what made it even more interesting was a screen behind her that projected images relating to the evolution of the dancer and depicting her own sensations, creating a very unique three-dimensional audio-visual experience, which was disturbing and amazing at the same time. 

The audience was clearly in awe of what they saw and praised the efforts of the entire team behind it. 

“It was kind of experimental. I was amazed at the production and commend the efforts of the dancer for whom this definitely would have been an exhausting experience. I would love to see more such collaborations in the future,” said Jayashree, an audience member. 

Shiv, who was ‘pleasantly distracted’ from shopping to watch the performance, said that he thoroughly enjoyed the vertical technique. 

“The dancer was fantastic and the images projected were very emotional and intriguing. The music and lighting went well with the dance,” he said.

Asked what he thought of the crowd response, Fabrice, the mastermind behind this production, said, “It all depends on the space where the piece is being performed at and the mall made for an interesting experience. The audience wasn’t really used to seeing contemporary dance so I was happy to see the numbers that showed up. For me, it’s important to perform in public spaces and understand how each one makes sense of the dance in his or her own way. In this production, I tried to show the relationship between the dancer and images and created her sensations through movements and I think the audience grasped that well!”