An early technical glitch on the opening night of Expressions Dance Company’s ‘4Seasons’ couldn’t dampen the anticipation for the company’s 2018 collaboration with Hong Kong's City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC).
A triple bill of pieces performed by six dancers from EDC and fourteen dancers from CCDC, ‘4Seasons’ opened with the CCDC cast performing ‘Summer’ under a suspended golden canopy that seemed to inhale and exhale with the pulsing heat of a summer sun. Moving in a languid, almost weightless slow-motion, dancers conveyed the intended mood of oppression, as they fell and rose, fell and rose to the heavy throb of both the soundtrack and the set.
The canopy falling prematurely halted proceedings briefly, however ironically I think the technical glitch enhanced the intended dystopian, stifling mood of the piece, for thereon in I was holding my breath watching the canopy, particularly later in the piece when it did fall as intended. Watching the dancers’ intricate, measured moves to extricate themselves from it, some together, others alone, perfectly conveyed the humanity of the piece.
‘Day After Day’ performed by the EDC dancers and featuring Bruce Wong (CCDC), was my favourite piece of the night. White, translucent suits brought a contrasting coolness to the previous set, and accentuated the beauty of the dancers’ lines as they navigated choreography that was in turns dreamlike, robotic and frenetic. Behind them, walking so slowly that I had to strain my eyes to detect his almost imperceptible movements, Wong (naked apart from a flesh coloured dance belt) brought a burning warmth to the set and I could almost feel my thirst satiated, when at the end of his painstakingly slow journey, he crouched to embrace a block of ice. Discussing his understated yet powerful performance during intermission, my companion summed it up perfectly when she said, ‘I’m not sure if he had the easiest part of the night, or the hardest!”
The third and final act ‘4Seasons’ featuring the full cast and performed to a recomposed version of Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’, was the perfect pièce de résistance to the production. Four female/male duets starring EDC and CCDC dancers examined the seasons of romantic love, with Richard Causer and QIAO Yang delivering standout performances in their respective duets. Interspersed among the duets were an all-male number and male solo celebrating the power and grace of the male form and full cast routines featuring perfectly executed canon choreography – a recurring and favourite aspect of the production’s choreography.
Forget four seasons in one day. ‘4Seasons’ captures all four seasons in just 90 minutes, and it won’t leave you cold.
