The Missing Door - Gabriela Carrizo
"...such magnificent propwork!"
A man simply walks in with a bucket and a piece of cloth to wipe out all the traces of blood on the floor. It looks like a crime has just been committed and a guy lies dead on a chair. What an intriguing scene to kick off the piece with! The audience are left wondering what happened in this room that looks like a honeymoon sweet and how can the piece of cloth fly around the room without any signs of strings or whatsoever?!
Gabriela Carrizo who is one of the founders of Peeping Tom introduces physical theatre in her own unique way to the dancers of the renowned company NDT1. Not only does she create a beautiful and mysterious stage setting composed of movable walls and simple bedroom furnitures, the dancers integrates with the setting keeping the audience in awe of how clever everything is set. Anyone and anything could appear and disappear in a matter of seconds, a dussin of people can come rumbling out of the closet which throughout the whole piece have been visibly empty. It made me feel in the same way as if I was watching a magic show trying to anticipate and analyze how the hell they did that? I have never seen such magnificent propwork!
Gabriela Carrizo who is one of the founders of Peeping Tom introduces physical theatre in her own unique way to the dancers of the renowned company NDT1. Not only does she create a beautiful and mysterious stage setting composed of movable walls and simple bedroom furnitures, the dancers integrates with the setting keeping the audience in awe of how clever everything is set. Anyone and anything could appear and disappear in a matter of seconds, a dussin of people can come rumbling out of the closet which throughout the whole piece have been visibly empty. It made me feel in the same way as if I was watching a magic show trying to anticipate and analyze how the hell they did that? I have never seen such magnificent propwork!
The unique dance and physical theatre mixture by Carrizo is another positive thing about this piece. It was almost as if you could hear what the dancers were saying, without them opening their mouth. They kept the mouth subtle, and what spoke to us was the body language and most importantly for me was the eyes. A gaze could describe a feeling better than what words could. Together with NDT’s trademark of outstanding physical facilities it was pure heaven to see such a high level of artistry.
They did not conceal the scene changes by closing the curtains in front of the audience, instead they invited us in the creation of the setting. One person was still in character, in other words she was still playing her role while everyone else was busy on fixing the next staging. It is amazing to see behind the scenes in the middle of the performance in a way that you get to experience how the magic and the illusion assembles. The decision to keep one dancer in character is genius, even though we got to see behind the scenes it did not feel like a pause due to technicality but still a part of the whole performance.
They did not conceal the scene changes by closing the curtains in front of the audience, instead they invited us in the creation of the setting. One person was still in character, in other words she was still playing her role while everyone else was busy on fixing the next staging. It is amazing to see behind the scenes in the middle of the performance in a way that you get to experience how the magic and the illusion assembles. The decision to keep one dancer in character is genius, even though we got to see behind the scenes it did not feel like a pause due to technicality but still a part of the whole performance.
The level of brilliancy presented is overwhelming. Although from a contemporary dancers perspective I would recommend this also to those who like watching theatre and fans of NDT in general. However I believe newcomers and commercial dancers would not enjoy this as much as the piece is not what you would refer to as a “dancy” piece. If you go to the theatre and expect something like this you would most likely be disappointed. Nevertheless it is worth trying and you might find the beauty in what this performance has to offer.
Choreographer: Gabriela Carrizo
Title: The Missing Door
Dancers: NDT1
Premier: 1st of October in Zuiderstrandtheater.
Title: The Missing Door
Dancers: NDT1
Premier: 1st of October in Zuiderstrandtheater.
Tours in holland until november 29th.
Production: (?)
By: Yves Ancheta
Production: (?)
By: Yves Ancheta
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