Michael Seaver

The White Piece

Irish Modern Dance Theatre

About 15 years ago when John Scott first presented work in the old Project, he would sellotape his source material on the foyer walls - important clues in deciphering his sometimes obtuse dances. The photocopies and stick-it notes are back up on Project's walls as a backdrop to The White Piece, but there's no need to scan the images to reveal the process behind the performance. These days Scott's process is revealed onstage.

The mishmash of games, exercises and improvisations not only reveal the inner structure of the work but are the actual surface itself. By allowing the performers to dictate the pacing, Scott relinquishes aspects of form and so there are the inevitable moments where proceedings meander. This can be infuriating, but at times it's as though the process itself begins to daydream and in these moments of forgetfulness you discover little gems of movement and text.

The properties of whiteness and associations around goodness and purity are behind the title, but there is also a strong element of self-identity. Performers list personal reflections on love, and dance a movement correlation to "love as fate" or "love as a taste bud". The device returns later when they simply say "me" and dance a personal business card. With a mixed cast of professional and non-professional dancers, it's the physical differences in their expressions that speak loudest. They all give committed performances and the structure allows them the freedom to retain the individualism, so one might go off-stage to glug on a water bottle or even laugh at another performer. The waywardness is mostly enjoyable, but some slightly harder buffers might have guided the journey without losing the immediacy of the energy or compromising artistic intent.

August 26, 2005

Irish Modern Dance Theatre | Project Arts Centre

Photo Credit: Chris Nash