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Don’t let the numerical title of the British choreographer Fin Walker and composer Ben Park’s latest work put you off. 5 2 10 simply refers to the five duets, two solos and ten instruments featured in the 70-minute production. Nor do you need to be unduly concerned that each section of dance corresponds to the seven chakras, an energy system of the body propagated by various Asian and New Age philosophies.
All you really need to know is that the performance, which tours until December 1, may be Walker and Park’s most accomplished collaboration to date. In an autumn crammed with dance from the UK and abroad, it already looks like one of the season’s highlights.
The designer John Napier fills the stage with bark chips, confining Park and his fellow musicians Jonathan Gibson and Constance Tanner to a small platform up at the back. Between each of seven scenes one or more of the four dancers appears and soberly sweeps a clean space in which to move. The threat of po-faced ceremony vanishes as soon as the monumental Lee Clayden launches into the opening dance, opposite Gibson on percussion. Flipping upon the floor as if he would dive into the earth’s core, Clayden is astonishing.
Catherine Bennett and Jason Keenan-Smith are scarcely less arresting in the jumpy, stop-start duet that follows. Clayden then returns opposite the petite but doughty Jenny Tattersall. Their initial bout of grappling shoves resolves into a series of contemplative weight exchanges. Tattersall’s ensuing solo is quirky and precise, Bennett’s odd yet ecstatic. Each “scene” conveys a particular mood and rhythm. Most of the dancing feels permeated by the tensions of contemporary life.
Beautifully disciplined yet wonderfully human, the dancers are all remarkable for their concentration and lack of vanity. Lucy Carter’s lambent lighting continually enhances the show, as do Jack Galloway’s body- hugging, colour-coded costumes. The real juice, however, is Park’s multilayered score. It percolates and soothes. 5 2 10 adds up to a rich, stringent and palate-cleansing experience that could leave you feeling both exhilarated and content.
Tour details: www.walkerdance.moonfruit.com
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