The Place, London
March 7, 2025
Léa Tirabasso’s In The Bushes is a strange piece; and strangely compelling.
The programme note explains how the work explores the grotesque notion of human exceptionalism, that is, the view that humans are not only qualitatively different from other animals but that we are greater in moral value. I’m sure in her own mind it does, but the connection was lost on me. More obvious were questions about stigma, shame and societal conventions, however.
The piece features six dancers moving around the stage in weirdly grotesque ways, interacting with each other in sexual ways, and vocalising in animal ways. To even think about pulling-off something like this needs supremely talented and highly skilled dancers, which is certainly what Tirabasso has in Catarina Barbosa, Georges Maikel Pires Monteiro, Karl Fagerlund Brekke, Laura Lorenzi, Mayonwa Ogunnaike, and Stefania Pinato.
Photo Bohumil Kostohryz
They commit to the dance completely, which plays a large part in why the work is so persuasive. Their belief in, and focus on, what they are doing on stage draws the audience into the world they create and recreate during the hour that the piece lasts.
There is humour, sexual inuendo, and nudity, although the latter seemed somehow out of place, the bouncing body parts looking more painful than emblematic. Overall, the choreography is original, sparky, interesting and very dynamic. In The Bushes could do with some editing, however. It did start to feel a little overlong, with a sense that one was seeing things one had seen before.
The music, composed by Johanna Bramli and Ed Chivers adds just the right tone and depth without being overbearing. Ben Moon’s lighting could perhaps be more adventurous, but it does its job and the dancers are well lit throughout.
Despite the occasional doubt, overall, In The Bushes is well worth seeing. It provides 60 minutes of thought provoking, at times humorous, highly original, if abstract-feeling dance.