Reviews
Raw [Clonmel Junction Festival]
Although aerialism is increasingly popular, it is usually a mere ornamentation for conventional proscenium performance, a magic moment of flight that goes one higher than balletic leaps. Fidget Feet go further: the Drill Hall is converted into an aerial arena, festonned with ropes and pullies, and the initial clubby atmosphere is soon overwhelmed by swinging, dangling dancers.
In terms of technique and expressiveness, RAW excels. It is spectacular, fast, daring and dangerous. The four aerialists have exquisite skill, and the high wires are integral to the characterisation. A sequence on ropes is a perfect symbol of the ups and downs of the chemical rollercoaster. A Matrix-style fight scene injects humour and action. The finale, a peaceful arrival at a place of holiness and wisdom, resolves the desperate energy of the early scenes. It is almost a masterpiece, a showcase for aerisalism as a vibrant, important medium.
The weaknesses are few: Yet these moments are subsumed beneath the forceful pace and stunning performances.
If aerialism has often been relegated to a sideshow, a circus trick, RAW places it centre-stage and opens its possibilities.
The skinny **** – Posted by Gareth K Vile, Sat 15 Aug 2009
Dance is springing up in new and unexpected places all over the Fringe this year. Halfway down Leith Walk at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall, a Fringe community has popped up and there’s a genuine buzz about the place. RAW, by Ireland’s leading aerial dance troupe, Fidget Feet, is a thrilling ticket to clubland, opening with four dancers bouncing to the beats while they queue, and a DJ playing house music from on high. There are neon lights, ropes snaking down, and the atmosphere induces the jitters you feel before a big night out.
The dancers pump their bodies, popping and punching the air in a jumpy choreography that’s come straight from the dancefloor. There is male pole dancing and women thrown up poles suspended on harnesses. Watching the dancers casually walk up ropes dangling from the rafters, sans harnesses, is astonishing….jawdropping spectacle, if you fancy a night out clubbing on the Fringe, this is the show to get you in the mood.
CHITRA RAMASWAMY- Scotland on Sunday
Two Matrix-style bodyguards stand fiercely at the entrance and inside, the room flashes and vibrates with strobes and pumping bass lines, setting the scene for aerial dance show, RAW. Dubbed as an exploration into clubbing culture, the show uncovers a dark world of drugs, sex, violence and shamanism.
Initially believable and lighthearted, four ‘clubbers’ queue up excitedly to enter the space. Moving to the beats of the live DJ placed high above the floor, the four dancers manoever themselves into the centre of the nightclub and appear to be having fun. Within minutes, the direction of the piece takes a dramatic turn. High on drugs, twitching and trembling, RAW unfolds into one really bad trip.
There is no doubt that these dancers are talented. They swing through the air with an enviable strength and grace, scaling ropes and mastering breathtaking aerial sequences.
The Skinny – Posted by Louise Black, Tue 18 Aug 2009
Look up “aerial dance” in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Danceand you’ll be told to “see Circus”. Go to an aerial dance performance and you might also end up seeing circus. More than 30 years after it emerged on the west coast of the United States, the art form is still in search of its aesthetic, swinging between trapezey spectacle and earnest artistic statement. Thankfully, Irish company Fidget Feet shuns empty virtuosity for the richer expression derived from contemporary dance.
Its latest work, Raw, premiered at Chadwick’s Theatre for the Clonmel Junction Festival, seamlessly integrates aerial and floor-bound movement into a deeply dark and energetic portrayal of clubbing.
Coiscéim’s director David Bolger has been brought in to shape the devised material and he is a perfect fit, counterpointing scenes and structuring a narrative that exposes the narcissism and supposed sense of community in clubs. Following an impatient queue along a red velvet rope, the four performers unleash joyous unison dancing that soon fragments into paranoid and often abusive individualism. This moral desolation is reflected in a breeze-block-and-corrugated-iron warehouse setting, as well as in Paul Shriek’s costumes – more Mad Max than Ministry of Sound.
Bolger skilfully manages the extra dimension gained from jessant (springing) bodies. A crouching-tiger-like fight between Chantal McCormack and Jennifer Paterson is full of slow-motion lunges and exaggerated recoils, and later a screaming Paterson is yanked toward the ceiling as if on a bad high before being brought back down to the floor by concerned embraces. Composer and DJ Jym Daly is a constant presence above the action and his influence on the performers goes beyond providing the beats.
As the action develops, the club becomes a place of restriction rather than release, with Daly’s character controlling mindsets as well as dancing. An attempted slam-dunk, ending with Daly quoting Morpheus from The Matrix, seems unnecessary, so although some loose ends are left fraying after the 75 minutes, Raw doesn’t suffer from the untidiness.
Micheal Seaver, © 2008 The Irish Times
Wired & Free
“Enjoyed the show, which I thought had a distinctively Irish character. There were some great images, especially the rowing boat and the big mobile at the end.”
- Frank Wilson, Artistic Director, Stockton International Riverside Festival
“The show “Wired and Free” is an interesting mixture of contemporary circus, music, video and non-verbal theater. It also breeds strong relations with the audience so I see it as a good quality street art project, which not only changes a public space with putting a crane in the middle it totally changes the perception of the place where it is happening, attracting audiences into it. Although this was actually my first live experience of Irish contemporary circus, I can feel it is evolving and should become a recognized part of European diversity in this sector.. Fidget Feet is a professional company that can transfer its’ stories and messages to the audience in their best shape imaginable.”
- Ivan Kralj, Artistic Director, Festival Novog Cirkusa Croatia
“I am very excited by the work that your company is doing and feel that you have one of the most fresh and dynamic aerial circus acts in Europe. After seeing your show in Longford I thought that your show has all the ingredients to become a major international hit.”
- Wolfgang Hoffmann, Artistic Director, Dublin Fringe, Ireland & Aurora Nova, Edinburgh Festival, Scotland
“This piece had the children and adults in the sizable crowd transfixed neck straining skywards. A beautiful choreographed piece graceful and awesome, Ballyshannon has never seen anything like it. “
- Colin Regan, Donegal News
I Can’t Handle Me
“The Dublin Fringe was delighted to host Chantal Daly’s solo aerial piece, which with a deftness of touch and humour showcased a genuine aerial talent, a show not to be missed.”
- Vallejo Gantner, Director of Dublin Fringe
“A very powerful and challenging piece of aerial dance theatre that works at many levels and sucks you in. It is a joy to watch”
- Adrian Clark, Arts Officer, Inverness
“I Can’t Handle Me traced an unravelling personality from childhood… images of real beauty and magic… thrills and spills are at a premium in the work.”
- Michael Seaver, The Irish Times
“Beautifully produced, with excellent costumes and lighting design. Wonderful evenings theatre, heartfelt and humorous, with many surprises and visual treats.”
- Niamh Lawlor, Total Theatre
“Very very enjoyable, great music, something very different, well done done to the performers – they were fantastic, more more more.”
- Boyle Festival
“Beautiful, moving, funny and intimate. Really enjoyable. The best piece of physical theatre I saw in North of Scotland ever – give us more…”
- Cathey – Phoenix Theatre director, North Scotland
Remember Her
“Chantal’s aerial routines are a breathtaking example of poetry and athleticism. Her efforts put one’s heart in one’s mouth.”
- Alfred Hickly, The Guardian
“…wonder filled elegance…”
- Jeremy Kingston, The Times
“…watch out for the spellbinding aerial artist Chantal Daly.”
- Ron Livingston, Evening Gazette – Newcastle
“Absolutely fantastic. It broke down barriers of reality and introduced new and superb images and sounds not normally experienced.”
“Enjoyed immensely. Wonderful artistic mix of performers. Very thought provoking yet somewhat profound also pretty”
“Very evocative, adventurous, capitivating, mesmerising and absolutely magical.
“The music, dancing and singing was great parts of it was funny. There was nothing bad about this live performance”
“Ethereal – almost felt I was flying myself”
“The mix of dance, music and flying was cohesive and with purpose. Pleasingly the lack of narrative in the film helped.”
- Audience Feedback from Riverside Stockton Street Festival
A Fairies Tale
“On behalf of myself, my family and my friends, who watched the 2pm show today,it was absolutely fantastic. Being from a professional theatre background, I thought the show was brilliant, also it was great to see the park being used so well. It was great to give the children this opportunity to experience something so wonderful. The park, and Blyth itself could do with more of this kind of thing!”
- Tonya Holman
Pixelation (2004)
“…a very dynamic, creative and talented duo, with a tremendous amount of spark and imagination”
- Earthdance, USA
“A highly creative, innovative and strikingly visual production.”
- Roscrea, Ireland
“A spectacular cast and energetic dance routines that leave you gasping for breath… imagery and the strongly visual content make this a show that appeals to young and not so young with ease.”
- Donegal Peoples’ Press, Ireland