Free movements and expressions

Black Pulp’, the first performance of Institut Francais’ ‘Danse Dialogues 2014’ series, took place at Ranga Shankara recently. 

A production by XIN, the dance company of Martin Harriague, the dance performance explored the dark and explosive modern grand pas de deux, which in ballet terms is a grand dance for two. 

Choreographed and performed by Martin, the dance was a power game between a couple, wherein the woman’s role was performed by Lior Spector. 

The dance was based on a recurring line – ‘At some point in the vanishing history of a couple, their home fades from a place of shelter to a museum of once was’. 

This accompanied the narrative, which were words written in collaboration with beat poet Derrick Brown.

Rather than sticking directly to the theme, the performance comprised of free, rather frantic and often disturbing movements, which were interesting to observe. 

The rapidity of actions and chemistry between the two artistes were heightened by the play of light and shadows while the music, composed by Martin himself, led the production from one phase into another. 

Except for Lior’s screams of ‘No’, ‘Move’ and ‘Hurt Me’ in the climax, the artistes interestingly did not utter a single word throughout and merely enacted silent screams or expressed their desperation through facial expressions. 

Ridima, who attended the performance, found it unique and well-conceptualised. 

“I felt that the artistes emoted beautifully. The movements and music really grabbed my attention and it was a gripping performance to watch. It made me think a lot,” said Ridima.

However, she added that the first voiceover with the narrator speaking could not be heard because the music was too loud, rendering the much-required introduction to the piece pointless. 

According to Sunil, a member of the audience, there was something perverse about the production.

“I didn’t understand why but I felt slightly disturbed while watching the performance. The two dancers created an intimate and dark space on stage using their movements and the light and music complemented that. But I felt like there was an underlying perverseness to it all,” he opined. 

There were also those who found it too vague and experimental to enjoy. 

 

“It was banal. The movements weren’t good, the light was neat at best and I didn’t get the theme at all. In terms of the narrative, the dance tried to follow a literal reading of the text but ended up ignoring it most of the time,” said a disappointed Nitin, a member  of the audience.