PleaseDon'tCatchMeWhenIFall - 8 out of 10
CoExist Collective
TICKETS: PleaseDon'tCatchMeWhenIFall. | Adelaide Fringe
PleaseDon’tCatchMeWhenIFall is a contemporary dance
performance that is a hypnotic exploration of what it means to fall down with
support. This world premiere is presented by Aimee Raitman with CoExist
Collective.
Using Contact Improvisation (CI) as a basis for the
choreography, Aimee Raitman brings together two dancers separated by 30 years:
Patrick O’Luanaigh (2022 graduate of Victorian College of the Arts) and Cinzia
Schincariol. To quote the programme notes, “CI is a dance form that uses
momentum and gravity to explore the relationship between two bodies in contact.
It involves lots of trial and error, lots of falling, and can feel at times
either very awkward, or very intimate.” For this production, I would argue that
any awkwardness was banished during rehearsals, leaving an intimate exploration
of movement and falling: lots of falling. The age gap between the two
performers brings into focus an exploration of mutual support across the
generational divide, demonstrating that the language of CI is universal.
The hypnotic nature of the production comes from the
exploration of the same movements through minor and subtle variations. The
dancers’ collisions cause them both to ricochet and to reverse their
trajectories before finally settling into a comfortable and intimate closeness
as they explore how they can support each other in falls and lifts. The clever
use of a trampoline – which I won’t spoil here – dials up the exploration of
falling and getting back up again to eleven.
The performance is aided well by the soundscape created by
Merrick Craven. It is suitably ethereal, hypnotic, and repetitive, matching the
choreography that is the heart of the production. Lana Rosalea’s lighting
design similarly supports and enhances the dancers.
This 45-minute hypnotic and repetitive exploration of just a
few movements at a time makes this a good introduction to the world of
contemporary dance performance. Those that are more familiar with the language
of dance, and Contact Improvisation in particular, will appreciate the skill
and nuance on display by O’Luanaigh and Schincariol.
–Scott
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