Chunky Move latest work is an engaging, although odd, collection of movement, vocalisation comedy and dance.
The stage is covered with what looks like piles of garbage. Smoke fills the space, sound fills the space and we wait. More smoke fills the stage and begins to float out over the first few rows of the audience, the sound continues to vibrate across the room, we can see figures on the stage, but we wait so more. Eventually two of the figures begin moving, and grunting and a third appears from under the pile of foam that is stacked at the front of the stage.
Over the next forty minutes the characters grow, they develop, their movement becomes more complex, they begin to say things that makes sense, if only for a moment before they morph into saying something else.
This creative movement, exploring the concept of evolution and the development of technology might be tediously boring if it wasn’t for the ample amount of humour injected into the piece. Eventually the foam is thrown around the room, a variety of characters have appeared and disappeared, the music reaches a crescendo and the lights turn a dark purple and the dancers standing reaching for the sky. Maybe it’s the height of a rave, maybe it’s the mother ship landing. The stage is again filled with smoke and pulsating sounds vibrate through your brain.
Then for the final ten minutes of the show the dancers begin to dance, synchronised robotic moves that are sharp and fast. Prior to this there was a lot of movement in the show, but maybe not a lot of dance – where do you draw that line? Does it matter- not really – it was all very captivating and at times laugh out loud hilarious.
In creating this work choreographer Anthony Hamilton started off with the unused work of previous shows and explored where the subconscious went with working with these ideas. This process have given what could have been a confusing jumble of ideas a sense of connection, the work evolves.
The soundscape for the work is created by Hamilton’s brother Julian and his creative partner Kim Moyles, who work professionally as The Presents. It’s a quality soundtrack and you can’t help wonder what boundaries the pair work in when creating music for a commercial audience – this is a very experimental and constantly interesting soundtrack.
The three dancers, Benjamin Hancock, Lauren Langlois and Alisdair Macindoe execute the work perfectly, easily traversing the works more fluid moments to its rigid and tightly sequences final moments. The trio also show their comedic flair and reveal their engaging personalities.
If you like contemporary dance that’s thought provoking and doesn’t take itself too seriously, you’ll find something to enjoy in this very layered show.
Chunky Move ‘Keep Everything’ is at PICA until Saturday July 26th.
Graeme Watson
