Created by Hani Dance
Review by Marina Funcasta
Inlet is, to put it simply, a beautiful show. In what feels like an unfurling, we witness our dancers evolve from primitive to civilised states. The word unfurling is ironic, though, seeing as their bodies quite literally become bound up – by costume, mannerisms, social trappings etc. In this gentle and patient demonstration of social development, the every day is defamiliarised in a beautiful, though ultimately tragic, way.
Developed by an ensemble of three artists, Ana Melero, Francesco Ferrari and Michele Scappa, under choreographer and visionary Saeed Hani, Inlet is much more than just a dance piece. From its inclusion of lighting design (by the brilliant Marc Thein) to the texture of the movements themselves, Hani successfully generates a visual language onstage which tugs at its audience to listen more closely. The visual images are striking, making use of pillars and red lights to evoke the beginning of construction, inlet ties together a series of endings and beginnings.
These transitions, however, are not always fluid. Intentionally so, I imagine. The pillar emerges as a wall, breaking the more playful scenes with the harsher sequences, where violence isn’t only hinted at but fully exposed. A sequence of slow pushes stands out to me in particular: the collision between the dancers’ anger and their gradual, slow motion tugs underscore the effort of the scene. This exchange makes contextual sense when considered Hani’s stimuli of the myth of Romulus and Remus, but even so, the entire performance is scattered with delicate and slow moments of reflection.
This piece affected me greatly: what Hani and his company have achieved is truly unlike anything I have seen before. Beyond simply movement, we are presented with a series of alternative sign systems, developing a language of themselves which explode in a Tower of Babel-esque performance. Always escaping precise meaning, the signs are voluminous in interpretative capacity, and Melero’s final solo confirms this. Inlet was a delight, and has stayed with me for days.
Stays With You For Days
Intel runs at Assembly @ Dancebase
Running time: Sixty minutes without interval
Photo credit: Blackgate Media
Review by Marina Funcasta (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Marina is halfway through an English literature degree at Edinburgh University, wherein she has been (considerably) involved in the drama scene: enjoying performing with their Shakespeare Company shows, but also modern takes on Arthur Miller. However, Marina’s interests are wide-ranging under the theatre genre – enjoying abstract, more contemporary takes on shows (with a keen interest in Summerhall)
