If this is Private Dancer in its experimental stage then please, someone, give Parker and her artists the space and support to take it further.
Mind you, as it stands, it is already resonant with an impressive mesh of thought-provoking images. Richard Layzell’s design makes the first statement. It’s a ‘house’ of pale canvas with five
separate rooms -- and though passers-by can glimpse shadows on the walls, the rooms and their lone occupants are not necessarily open to public view. Inside, the dancers wait to give their own, individually devised performances for one viewer at a time... And already, we’re in that fascinating zone of consensual voyeurism, where strangers share eye contact (but beyond a hand-clasp, no touching) and where
confines of space ensure there is a degree of intimacy. Add in the element of disability -- these five disabled performers include two wheelchair users -- and the concepts of privacy, intimacy, looking (staring, maybe?) are astutely edged in other directions.
That each of these performers has a genuine gift of movement -- and each one uses movement in a different, highly expressive and personal way -- disposes of any notions an onlooker might harbour of ‘having to make allowances’.
There is compelling artistry in every strand of this project, a real -- and wonderfully natural -- integration of resources where disabled performers and the other dancers (who usher and interact with us) create a world, the ‘House’, where we are invited into someone else’s fantasy, someone else’s private space. Thanks, too, to Dance House for giving us a glimpse of the generosity and beauty that is Private Dancer.
Star rating: *****
Private Dancer, CCA, Glasgow
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