Review: Impermanence presents… Out of Curiosity, Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘eclectic and inspiring’

Just as it doesn’t seem right to ‘review’ creative work in its infancy, it is also an undeniable privilege to see dance in arguably its most organic, dynamic, and intriguing context.

Impermanence presents: Out of Curiosity saw a packed audience at the Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio come along for an evening to see four works in that same early stage of development.

Mary Mannion’s Crazymaker began proceedings, with dancer Lindy Nsingo interacting with a would-be zoom rehearsal, and dancing largely not to music, but instead to the lyricism and cadence of words on a shopping list.

Then came electrifying dancer and choreographer Moses Ward’s The Land of Illumination, which he describes as “exploring the true meaning of self in the land where all is dark and just awakening”; watching along with me, my friend summed it up as “like watching spring happen, in a human”.

To a pulsating, ominous score, he juxtaposed imagery of constriction and tightness with moments of abandon, lucidity, and a breathtaking swirling of limbs. Dressed initially in a mask, hood and padded puffer vest, he shed the layers to reveal a billowing blue shirt, his hair shaken loose.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaSGhDFI8o7/

On the way to the transformation, as he crabbed backwards around the space with his jacket and hood pulled right up above and over his head, shaking it from side to side, he conjured a stunning animalistic image of a faceless creature, inhabiting two connected ideas: here are the disguises and masks with which we hide our true selves. But here too is the lyrical beauty hidden beneath the layers of ourselves that others might see; the myriad versions that we are consciously or unconsciously projecting.

Following the interval, we got to what was, for me, the emotional heart of the evening. Jane Mason’s Into the Trees We Move is “a solo inspired by love and heartbreak”. Without wanting to spoil too much of the content, what she gave us lay somewhere at a blurred creative boundary; part dance, part poetry, part performance art.

Beginning in semi-darkness, with a raw and evocative song, she ended daubed in bodypaint, with a beautiful and quite emotional moment of connection. Playing with stillness and silence, and subtlety of movement, the intensity that Mason managed to create in the room gave the enraptured audience a story at once esoteric and personal, and universal – tapping into her own, and all our stories of heartbreak.

Production shot for Ao Maon’s Utopia Room, choreographed and performed by Olivia Grassot and Adélie Lavail, part of Impermanence presents: Out of Curiosity (2022) – photo: courtesy of Impermanence Dance

The evening concluded with Ao Maon’s Utopia Room, choreographed and performed by Olivia Grassot and Adélie Lavail. The piece represents “a parallel utopian world where we ironically expose inadequate social attitudes and behaviours, through the expression of the body”.

Grassot and Lavail have a beguiling style, from the deceptive simplicity and warmth of their staccato mirroring to their stunning partner work, with wonderfully expressive faces throughout.

The overriding feeling I am left with as I exit the Weston Studio is one of gratitude for the chance to see these wildly different pieces as they take shape, and curiosity as to where they will go next.

An associate company of Bristol Old Vic, and newly resident at the glorious space that is The Mount Without, dance lovers would be well-advised to keep a close eye on Impermanence.

Impermanence, Lady Blackshirt (2021) – photo: Impermanence Dance

For more information about Impermanence including historic work and upcoming dates, visit www.impermanence.co.uk.

Main photo: courtesy of Impermanence Dance

Read more: Review: Lady Blackshirt

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