Human reactions to unexpected, unpredictable, impossible and unimaginable events are at the heart of As It Stands.
This absorbing and choreographically cohesive dance work took us into a sparsely populated world bounded by a cluster of tall wall panels sitting against one another at strange angles. Too high to see over and opaquely blocking any sense of what lies beyond, the walls were inspired by Richard Serra's Te Tuhirangi Contour installation at the sculpture park, Gibbs Farm.
Eight extraordinary dancers inhabited the strange world, worshipping at the foot of the walls, caressing and stroking them or leaning meditatively against them. Sometimes they were guardians, blocking access to the walls by forming an interlaced phalanx across the stage and crawling slowly backwards; other times, they helped one another to climb the walls and hang from the top, and at times they seemed to carry invisible walls with them.
Repeated motifs seeded through the work to help build cohesion. Intense cameos marked moments of personal revelation; a series of astonishing duets defined specific pockets of space or social relations and make the most of niches between the walls.
The dancers seemed to absorb energies from the walls and strange things started to happen, impacting on their activities. They became disordered and disorientated; alliances shift and purposeful movement was replaced by occasional fluid flurries and retreats into stillness. Minds shattered.
