Dance review: Phobia by Club Guy and Roni

Dance review: Phobia by Club Guy and Roni

Afraid of fear

These days dancers are asked to have a high variety in skill. In contemporary dance performers are often expected to have strong technical capabilities but also great expression and even more than that we expect some decent acting as a sugarcoating on top. We´re no longer interested in seeing a one trick pony on stage.

In the piece “Phobia” Club Guy and Roni´s dancers show this variety in skillset while they investigate the role of fear in our society and in our personal development. With the terrorist attack in Paris bringing war closer to home for the western Europeans fear is a current hot topic. For some of us it is even physically more palpable. Fear and hate is being spread around towards cultural groups in a very generalizing and for me frightening way. Phobia deals with this fear towards what we don’t know and can therefore be very thought provoking in a time where it is important to take a minute and think about what the consequences of that fear can be.

Phobia is very intense piece where the creators weren´t afraid to go over the top sometimes with the costuming or the amount of things happening on stage at one moment. This created a chaotic environment that was very fitting towards the theme. The live music, the acting skills and the sincere expression of the dancers made it hard for the spectators not the feel something whilst watching the piece. The dancers seemed to have had a great classical training but were able to combine that with contemporary technique and the ability to go deep into character.

The piece also broke the barrier between spectator and performer as there were several occasions there was interaction with the audience. One memorable moment for instance was when a giant black balloon was thrown into the audience and being pushed around the room by the spectators as a representation of what we do not want and what we try to push out of our lives. One of things I found very interesting to hear is that the audience plays a role in deciding what happens on stage. As a sort of test to our own human decency the dancers taunt us to the point where we feel like we need to intervene. The spectators need to decide what goes on and that puts the audience in a very alert and tensed situation.

Phobia grabs you attention from the start and does not let go. Even when the dancers were long gone behind the curtains I found myself thinking of their message while I was staring at my bedroom ceiling. The piece is a visual and intellectual delight that is worth the time and money to go and have a look.

Review by Iannes

Information about piece:

Name: Phobia
By: Club Guy and Roni
Date: 2 December 2015
Place: Stadstheater Arnhem

link to trailer