OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, 3 February 2009

X Factor Dance Company's Query

INSPIRED BY Gore Vidal’s novel Myra Breckinridge, Query is an interesting collaboration between New York based Gerald Casel (GERALDCASELDANCE) and Scottish choreographer Alan Grieg (Artistic Director, X Factor Dance Company). Performed by dancers drawn from both companies and with an accompanying soundscape by composer Tom Murray this is a patchy production, mesmerising and powerful in sequences and disappointingly dull in others.

Whilst the physicality of the choreography is undeniable and there are moments of real disturbance and beauty, Query as a whole lacks cohesion, sustained energy and insight. Billed as an exploration of “gender, sexuality and identity” where “a man becomes a woman and the two personalities fight for hormonal control of the body”, this is a surprisingly androgynous production.

The expectation of a dynamic battle of opposites or forces within the individual are dissipated by an unfocused piece of theatre that relies very much on free association, with movement and visual image as the trigger for the audience building its own connections with the work.

In relation to gender the dancers (clothed in a mixture of masculine and feminine/outer and underwear) defy classification based on sex, an idea which permeates the choreography. As a result there are times when the entire ensemble almost becomes one indistinct body.

Sequences where dancers or groups of dancers perform individual movements all over the stage are divisive. With all of the movement equal, there is nothing to draw the eye or stillness to register subtlety in movement as with some of the more effective group postures.

A choreographic collaboration between all seven performers and with elements of improvisation in each performance, the production as a whole feels hit and miss. At its best Query presents strong and beautifully expressive visual/physical statements, especially in the opening sequence where a female and male dancer merge into one and in the sculptural poise of the ensemble work.

However, stylistic repetition, lack of emotional depth and range of movement in other sequences do not hold attention undivided throughout. Use of panto or game show theatricality, audience participation and use of real time video footage were some of the production’s less convincing devices.

Drawing on the body with lipstick whilst being filmed felt like a poor imitation of Jasmine Vardimon’s felt tip marker, and this use of technology read more like a gimmick than a chosen medium of expression. Contemporary dance is awash with the whole multi media experience – sometimes all you need is pure movement and/or sound to engage.

As part of X Factor’s education programme, a group of local dance students provided a curtain raiser to the full length work in a piece devised by Alan Grieg and Rachel McDermott as part of a workshop held earlier in the week. It was fantastic to see young people involved directly in a live performance in this way, and an important part of the company’s ongoing commitment to outreach activity.

The concrete backdrop of the OneTouch Theatre’s bare stage provided a hard edged but intimate performance space, perfectly suited to this type of contemporary dance production. In such a space the effect of a semi-mute dancer at a stand up mike was visceral and disturbing – her voice distorted and unable to be heard, even though her movements and facial expressions could be read at close quarters.

Query feels very much like an experimental studio devised piece where the audience is a fly on the wall watching the work evolve, true to the unresolved nature of its title.

© Georgina Coburn, 2009

Links

• X Factor Dance
• Gerald Casel