The Place, London
May 3, 2017
Maggie Foyer
The question arises: how do you interpret something as elusive as happiness in movement? Didy Veldman, with a quintet of top talent (one musician and four dancers), has given it her best shot resulting in a totally engaging evening of dance theatre.
So, are you happy? Each dancer tries to give an answer. Estela Merlos is the most succinct; scrawling a smiley on a bag and pulling it over her head. Each dancer finds an individual character: Merlos, a winning smile and two feet firmly on the ground. Madeleine Jonsson, wide-eyed and earnest, but easily hurt by rejection. Mathieu Geffré, a difficult man to persuade but quick to burst into laughter and Dane Hurst, the most philosophical of the group, always questioning.
The disparate group is held together by Veldman’s quality choreography. She taps into a rich store of movement ideas in addition to her experience in knowing just how to shape a work. Her four, very experienced artists, are top quality dance/actors and through the evening we get to know their characters and share their needs and desires.
The narrative has overt, and often comic interpretation, through judicious use of props. The small boxes make plinths to give additional height, or to become a Pandora’s box that opens in a blaze of light and are used as much to hide as to reveal. A selection of designer accessories, passionately embraced or snootily repulsed by the cast, raised a few laughs but it was the relationships that gave deeper meaning as dancers seek happiness in closeness.
One of the chief joys of the evening is Alexander Balanescu, violinist and composer, who willingly joins in the action. His music highlights the emotional ups and downs and his physical presence on stage spices the choreography with situational humour. Like a sensitive godfather, his spirit pervades the evening. Happiness may be hard to pin down but the creativity and commitment of Veldman and her team have created an evening of warmth that leaves a tangible feel-good factor.