Alone, Together @ Camden Fringe

This new devised work contains a lot of bright ideas, however they get lost in the constraints of the structure. It begins intriguingly as a movement piece, with the performers alone in crowds, some nice physical work supporting this. The build on this is to show them all in their workplaces, facing similar limitations to the engagement of their students (they are all teachers, and we learn at the same school). Still intriguing….but this is where the structure becomes more of a constraint than a benefit. The actos pair off into couples, for each of whom we see snippets of their relationship tied to pop songs; each relationship meditates on the challenge in connecting to and truly knowing another person.

The choice to explore this through increasingly lengthy scenes is okay, but nothing new or groundbreaking — and indeed after a couple cycles feels repetitive, and undermines the argument the company are seeking to make with this devised piece. The relationships are mediated through phones, with individual attention trapped in them, however these movement sections interspersing the text feel more like superfluous and complicated scene changes than intentional moments.

It is all too bad, as the piece is earnest, and indeed showcases the acting of the young performers well — they are all interesting and thoughtful performers. However, as a work on its own, it is lacking.

THE BELT - Ambiguous Dance Company @ The Coronet Theatre

The Belt, from Korea’s Ambiguous Dance Company, is a two-part event.

First, Past, is a site specific exploration of identity through repetitive movement, with 6 short performances which take place across different areas of The Coronet theatre. Billed as “immersive” i would argue the label does the work a disservice. Instead it is site-specific, with the movements inspired by the spaces, and vice versa. Throughout this section the audience are moved around the space by guides - this is a bit unceremonious, and moved at an intense pace (so much so that my group lost people more than once). Nonetheless the pieces were thought provoking in their own right.

Second, Future, takes the ideas of durational performance and boredom from contemporary theatre and places them into the context of dance. Situated in the main performance space at the Coronet, and lasting over an hour, the company perform a non-stop piece of choreography to a continuous techno DJ set. This on its own is exciting, however coupled with a movement vocabulary which challenges perfection, it is quite thrilling overall picture. The movement takes classical dance movement and muddies it, making it look like street or club dancing….while still underscored by strong technique and precision (despite looking to the untrained eye completely imprecise). The sheer endurance of the piece is breathtaking.

A delightful evening, which challenged multiple preconceptions.