Percurso aims to emulate human emotions and relations through the movements of a river, but the water they inhabit is cluttered and murky. In the middle of a short run, the performance fails to communicate a swell of feeling and provides very little entertainment value. Other than some very obvious blue lighting the river metaphor is lost from the beginning, and the show lacks the emotion it aims for.
The cohesion of the piece suffers from infrequent synchronization, lazy movement and poor extension. Arms and legs were lifted and stretched to varying heights and lengths, making the choreography seem messy. Even with simple movements, such as a simultaneous stroll, there was a lack of grace and precision.
Two or three of the dancers are obviously talented but their flexibility and emotion are wasted on dull, unimaginative choreography. The use of props is bizarre and obscure, involving moments when performers look with horror into buckets and stroke each other with paper boats. Although half-filled bottles are intended to create the sound effect of water, the sound of plastic overwhelms.
The show is rescued by sparse moments of poignancy that indicate what could have been. Of particular note was a romantic duet that sparked with chemistry and electricity. With both the man’s and woman’s eyes and hips fixed to each other, the sequence was sexy and emotive. Similarly, a sequence on the floor between two women stood out as recognizably reminiscent of the undulating rolls of a river. These dancers evidently have potential, and perhaps a great show from Percurso is around the next bend in the river.