Out of Earshot – KAGE (rethinking Dance)
Words by Pearl Tizzie
Have you seen music?
Have you heard dance?
Out of Earshot is a beautiful sensory experience of live music and physical movement.
The dance and music hybrid explores non-verbal language and the role sound plays in communication. Contemporary jazz musician Myele Manzanza is joined by profoundly deaf dancer Anna Seymour, with Gerard Van Dyck, Elle Evangelista, and Timothy Ohl.
Entering the theatre there is a border of screens and a backwards facing drum kit in the centre of the stage. The space is silent with anticipation. Slowly five performers quietly emerge. The silence is intermittently interrupted by the percussive sound of palms on dancers. Body percussion morphs into a full drumming and dancing delight. This development is based around one thing that all can experience – the rhythm of the heart beat.
The show dances around the notion of sound, rhythm, and movement. The sound of the drums is shared through the actions and reactions of the dancers. Dancers climb their way on and around drummer Myele feeling and sensing the sound of the drums. All while Myele manages to not miss a beat. Myele’s profound percussive prowess is evident through out the show, even when only armed with two sticks and a stage floor.
The turbulence between silence, the sound of dancers moving on the stage, to a full blown rock beat makes an interesting yet raw experience. The show culminates in a pop music take on what it might be like to experience music and sound from different sensory perspectives.
The show is visually pleasing. Sound waves are projected around the stage. The drum kit is almost as agile as the dancers as it is wheeled around the space.
Out of Earshot is a beautiful show that provokes curiosity around the lines of touch and feel, and sight and sound. A must see for lovers of music and dance alike.
7/10
You can see Out of Earshot at Dunstan Playhouse on Thursday 15 June at 7.00 pm. Tickets available here:
7
Overall Score
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