Review-Architecture in Motion-Diavolo Dance
8-7-13
By: Meaghan McGurgan
I was invited to see Architecture in Motion presented by award winning LA Dance Company, Diavolo Dance on Sunday. Boy, was I happy to have gotten a ticket to see this show. I had heard about Diavolo before and was a big fan of co-founder, Jaques Heim's work. But I was interested to see how a show that relied so heavily on large props/sets would transfer into a tour. As most people know tours are often scaled down.
Diavolo didn't seem to hold back or cut corners on bringing their sets with them from LA. Presented as part of the International Art Carnival in HK, a majority of the audience today was families with kids. As I exited the theatre I heard things like: "Mom, that was so cool!" and "That was the best show ever! Can we go again?!" Obviously their target audience was hit on point. And adults were equally entranced by the movement on stage.
Diavolo is a fusion piece of dance, acrobatics, and even took inspiration from things like skateboarding and presents them on very large scale wooden sets that are inspired by pieces of architecture. The cast is incredibly talented. They dance beautifully and when they leap into the air your heart goes into your chest for a second. Diavolo's ability to engage you as an audience is quite impressive. Trajectorie with the large rocking bed was by far my favorite piece. It was the most visually captivating. The physics used in this piece of dance was something I could study for a good hour.
Being the critical eye that I am, I'm a firm believer that there's no such thing as a perfect show. Shows can be entertaining and Diavolo was certainly that but it was simply an assemblage of smaller pieces rather than a whole package. I nicknamed it "Diavolo's Greatest Hits" because you could kinda tell some of the acts had been handpicked from other shows and put together. Some of the choices came across as random.
There is nothing wrong with this style of showcase but as an audience member, I'm greedy. I want to be more than entertained. I want a show to have it all: entertainment, theme and a greater purpose to me sitting there for two hours.
Architecture in Motion is beautiful and entertaining but lacks of the heart of some other physical theatre shows I've seen. But the kiddies watching the show obviously didn't care about that as the little girl sitting behind me said very loudly during the second number, "I love this show. I wanna be dancer!"
Architecture in Motion has closed. For more information, click here.
Comments
Hannah
Great review as always!
08 July 2013