If

A multidisciplinary piece about spirits unable to move from this world into the next. Some sections were absolutely beautiful – some utterly impressive choreography in the opening sequence – but I didn’t entirely understand the storyline, if there was one. There was a funny bit with a singer possibly getting killed which I was unsure about – none of the characters in that bit reappeared in the rest of the piece. The ending was beautiful – towering figures with two faces, singing: one person on another’s shoulders facing opposite directions, under a long black cloak, which reminded me of ‘no-name’ in Spirited Away, a Studio Ghibli film. I asked a Korean friend about this later – she didn’t think it was a Korean idea of spirits – maybe it’s Japanese or just coincidental use of a similar idea. I realised during this piece that costume, hair and makeup seemed to be a fairly minor focus in all the dance pieces I’ve seen. Costume is co-ordinated but the clothing worn doesn’t seem specifically designed. Hair and makeup seems to be entirely the performer’s own choice, (some of the girls had their hair down, and it kept getting in their faces, whereas others had it up out of the way) whereas at home I would normally think of it as part of the costume, decided by the director.

Originally written on Thursday 6^th October 2011, and published on Tumblr.