A visually stunning look at the modern world through contemporary dance.
The Road
(2006)
Andover Dance Group
Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug 14.50, 21 Aug 16.50, 22 Aug 20.50, 23 Aug 10.50 (55m)
The Road is an original modern dance piece from the Andover Dance Group that explores a fast-paced digital world as foil to the world of dreams and possibilities. Created by choreographer Judith Wombwell, the show incorporates projections by visual artist Stephen Wicks. The audience is transported to New York City streets, into the binary system and then to the Great Salt Flats of America. In one section, audience members are invited to use their mobile phones to call and speak to the dancers onstage. This is the seventh time Andover has performed at the Fringe as part of the American High School Theatre Festival, but the first time they have presented a dance show.
The production is composed of four movements: The Journey, Days, Nights and Journey Continued. The company consists of six female and two male dancers, all dressed in white, but initially only one woman is on stage. She has to choose between two roads and she chooses ‘the one less travelled’. Her journey is accompanied by a soundtrack of music from Brian Eno and John Cage.
In Days, the dancers are seen moving around a New York scene, talking on mobile phones. The phone numbers are published in the programme and audience participation is welcomed. The large screen at the back shows rapidly moving images of binary digits, symbolising the fast-moving digital age. In Nights, more so than the other sections, the dancers are seen holding each other and jumping and dancing together. Music for these sections is by Sigur Ros, Radiohead and Philip Glass. Finally, the journey ends on the Great Salt Plains, impressively projected onto the screen at the back.
This is a very good and enjoyable presentation of modern dance, performed by a young, talented cast.
[Alan Chorley]
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