Flashlight by Lauren Simmonds consists of many different creatures that all appear and disappear leaving behind a chrysalis of beauty. These forms gather in the space to create an exhibition of light sculptures, each with its own mood and unique qualities. On face value these are piles of plastic, paper and fabric but the story they tell in both their movement and stillness is akin in its tenderness to Sam Mendes’ famous plastic bag scene from American Beauty.

Like a ballerina in a music box she spins in her sequined pink dress. The fluffy pink material at her feet curling around her like a nest. Unlike Barbie however, this dress is from a drag queen not the local shopping mall. Movements reflect a woman’s role, the mixing of the batter and the patting of the face, as a soundtrack of misogyny plays in the background. Images are jarring and arresting stories are told and points made.

Girl by Bicky Lee intertwines personal stories with bigger pictures. Drawing on her life, Lee uses anecdotes from her childhood, satirical plays on ‘girl things’, pop culture references and confronting yoga sequences to make serious statements about what being a feminist means in the 21^st century. Do feminists still refuse to shave their legs and like to be provocative about their vaginas? A guess would be probably not, but it doesn’t hurt to have a reminder every now and then that even though views on feminism are moving away from the ‘man- hater’ image gender equality is still rife today- both in homes and in parliament.

Flash/ Girl runs 18^th- 21^st September 2014 at Dancehouse.

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A 30-minute long solo performance choreographed and performed by Chimene Steele- Prior, In Formation II is a dance work that ebbs and flows like the soundscape that accompanies it. Steele- Prior is a master of her body controlling every muscle and breath in the most unlikeliest of positions. Her ability to create such interesting and amazing shapes is however undermined by a lack of overall context for the piece. The program states that the piece is about progress, which is physically explored through the building and deconstructing of movement combinations and improvisational tasks, but these exercises don’t hold together for a cohesive meaning for the entire piece. Steele- Prior has developed an amazingly beautiful movement vocabulary but the message she is trying to write with it is lost. This work is aesthetically pleasing and buzzes with an intensity that could so easily be overwhelming and encapsulating but alas the questions do hang at the end of this 30-minute work.

Can poignancy be achieved without context? Can movement be evocative without reference?

In Formation II runs from 19th- 26th September 2014 at The Fringe Hub Warehouse.

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A pile of ice begins to melt, streaks of water slowly running down towards them.

As her body begins to move through the space a physical aesthetic establishes itself.

A one- two punch of strike and melt that continues throughout as phrases repeat in and out of one another seamlessly. Breath and force, like that of a martial artist, let the energy surge from one part of her body to another as if there is a rough sea inside her veins. Odes to traditional rituals abound both in movement and music as limbs pour out of socket joints and energy radiates from the pelvis. Then stillness. Naked arms clutch rocks of ice like precious children as minds meditate and bodies convulse.

Post Phase: The Summit Is Blue is a full- length dance work consisting of two parts. The first is a solo performed and choreographed by Chloe Chignell and the second a duet choreographed by Timothy Walsh. These two volumes of one novel combine to create an experience of great intensity. There is no denial that these are two bodies moving and literally freezing in the space whilst others look on. No pretence is made for the endurance these bodies are speaking in great bouts of shivers, gasps for breath and loss of balance- just honesty about the rituals being undertaken. Post Phase: The Summit Is Blue does not offer any answers as to why these rituals are undertaken but simply displays them with the body in the fore, showing the physicality necessary for these spiritual awakenings.

Post Phase runs from 18^th- 21^st September 2014 at Dancehouse.

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