Times 2 27 de APRIL de 2006
Times 2
London, United Kingdom
27/APRIL/2006
By Donald Hutera
Dance - Deborah Colker *****
The 16 members of Deborah Colker?s eponymous company may be the most physically desirable dancers currently in the UK. Or is it simply the nature of this Brazilian choreographer?s new show that makes them seem so ?
The chief subject of Knot, which kicked off a substantial British tour this week, is desire both amatory and sexual. Company research included attending philosophy lectures and observing private bondage sessions. Amsterdam?s red-light district was a further source of inspiration for Colker and the brilliant designer Gringo Cardia.
Knot is split into two complementary halves. The centerpiece of part one is a tree-like conglomeration of 120 ropes. The dancers themselves subsequently separate the strands into a forest. In this fascinating metaphorical environment they play sober games of dominance and submission to a layered, channel-hopping soundtrack encompassing rhythmic beats, harp music, birdsong and Ravel.
The sense of strange, sadomasochistic mystery gives way to more overtly exhibitionistic and voyeuristic impulses in Act 2. Red and with wedges frame a huge transparent box, each corner of which is fitted with ladder-like rungs and topped by a pole. Colker?s extraordinarily agile cast cavorts and couples inside and out of this simple, suggestive structure. Their moves are sharp and swift, as the mood waxes swoonily romantic. Here the score is a smoothly seductive m?lange of cool and lyrical easy-listening jazz flecked with electronica.
Some of the production?s details are fetching and clever. In the rope section two women ooze in and around a thick fall of hair that could belong to an unseen, dreadlocked Rapunzel. Three females step and twirl inside the box in black pointe shoes, dance?s ultimate fetish object. Alexandre Herchcovitch?s witty conceal-and-reveal costumes feature flesh-toned tops and tights accented by faux pubic patches or red frilly knickers.
The work?s visual style is closely linked to Colker?s own highly disciplined kinetic inventions. Yes, she and her collaborators might have pushed themselves in sweatier, rawer directions. And yet, without resorting to smut or heavy-breathing vulgarity, Knot manages to get under the skin of its theme.
