La Ruta - Picture by Rahi RezvaniOne figure acquires the faintly beating heart of a beast — an unfortunate fellow-victim caught in the headlights — and once transplanted, begins throwing himself mercilessly around the stage with the sort of disregard for skeletal containment reminiscent of a rag doll. The eerily lit scene is a fusion of sounds and swirling mist, rendering it both macabre and mesmerising.
While the second section begins with some beautiful pair work effectively using shadows created through cross-stage lighting and choreography married to the dissonant and jarring music, the overall sense of Jiří Kylián’s Gods and Dogs was oddly confused. The periodic appearance of a projected image of a wolf-like figure bearing down on its prey behind and above the dancers, seemed to have little or no relevance to the performance (save its title) and served merely to compete for the audience’s attention causing a distraction from the intricacies of the choreography unfolding on the stage beneath. Without a discernible central story or motif and in spite of some exception individual performances, the piece as a whole failed as a suitable demonstration of the performers’ talents.
Lastly, endangered and extinct species and natural habitats were given the Crystal Pite Simon McBurney treatment when the troupe perform Figures in Extinction [1.0] as individual creatures, as pairs, herds and even combining to form a glacier. Pyrenean Ibex, Spix’s Macaw, Ghost Orchid, Caribou, Smooth Handfish and other departed or nearly departed flora and fauna are presented through dance and movement with McBurney’s dulcet tones enunciating the dates of their demise or entry onto the critically endangered list. As a piece of black comedy the loudest and strongest voice of the evening is inserted into the mix. It comes from a self-assured, besuited, fidgety, hyper-animated climate change denier who spews forth his gasoline-loving doctrine whilst denigrating the scientific evidence which has preceded his appearance and is presented after his drone evaporates.
Above the stage, projected in a familiar Victorian science book font, is a compelling race through the annals of human foolishness which names countless familiar and not-so-familiar species which are gone forever. As we reflect on those marvels lost, the poignant question the piece asks, is how long mankind will survive inclusion on the list?
