IF contemporary dance can sometimes bewilder the uninitiated, Company Chordelia’s elegant, dynamic new piece about death and dying immediately feels relatable.
Six dancers sit on mirrored cubes against a sky-blue backdrop to sounds of a sea which swells and ebbs. Though their clothes share a colour palette, each wears different attire; they’re both an ensemble and a collection of individuals. The six sit fretting on the cubes, rubbing legs and wringing hands. Sometimes they party, using the cubes as podiums; pedestals from which to enjoy brief flashes of love and connection.
They hold the cubes aloft, reflecting faces from the audience and conjuring flashes of light against the backdrop. They look like seagulls – or spirits. Breaking out the group, they sit in random formation, each marooned in private torment.
That isolation was experienced by Chordelia founder Kally Lloyd-Jones after a succession of deaths by people close to her, including her best friend. She found she had to largely bear these losses alone; that there was an unspoken rule where we’re expected to bounce back into the people we were; to ignore the gaping wounds of loss and get on with things.
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In The Chosen, getting on with things is something we’re not particularly good at. In one extraordinary sequence, the dancers perform like jittery subjects of an old film reel, mannequins whose fast-paced lives are dominated by repetition and anxiety.
The Chosen tours across Scotland throughout September, with many dates accompanied by “death cafes”, places free of the tyrannical taboo proscribing talk on a definitive aspect of our lives. This is not maudlin or miserable, but a stylish, compassionate piece urging us to live right now.
Until tomorrow, Dance Base, Edinburgh, 5pm, £13, £11 concs. Tel: 0131 225 5525. August 31 Macphail Centre, Ullapool; September 4 Paisley Arts Centre; Sep 5 Beacon Arts, Greenock; Sep 7 Comar, Mull; Sep 11 Eden Court, Inverness; Sep 12 Macrobert, Stirling; Sep 17 Byre Theatre, St Andrews; Sep 19 and 20 Tron Theatre, Glasgow; Sep 21 Brunton, Musselburgh; Sep 24 Perth Theatre; Sep 26 Dundee Rep; Sep 27 The Barn, Banchory; Sep 28 Universal Hall, Findhorn. www.chordelia.co.ukwww.dancebase.co.uk
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