Eden Dance Company Review

 On the 10^th December I was captivated by Eden Dance Company’s wonderful yet challenging work based upon the subject of nature. The piece was choreographed and directed by Alex Howard, who has, amongst other things, performed in Serena Korda’s Decosa Traditional, Stockholm Kiefer/pin. Eden Dance Company is made up of 11 Coventry University Dance students. The piece was originally meant to be performed outside yet due to adverse weather; the choreography was altered, cut out and replaced so that it could take place both inside a theatre as well as outside. The dancers should receive tremendous credit for these last minute changes as rather than looking like it had just been thrown together, the piece was very professional and the dancers all seemed to be on the same ‘level’.

The first part of the dance began in the theatre; the dancers were already performing when the audience entered the theatre space. Rather than allow the audience to take to their seats straight away, Eden Dance Company had instructed their Front of House to lead them around the stage area. This began the idea of nature and made the audience feel like they were on a nature trail, where they could take in their surroundings. It also challenged that performer-audience relationship and literally brought the audience closer to the action. The dancers continually explored all of the space, using different levels and dynamics. This included dancers coming into the audience seating, thus invading the audience’s space. Throughout the piece there were many intricate details and the eye focus of both the performers and audience were on these.

The costume continued the idea of nature, with dresses in natural colours of green and pale pink. The dresses allowed for a wider, unrestricted range of movement needed for this performance. The only props used were plastic sheeting on the ground. This represented snow and at one point the performers enveloped themselves in it. The sheeting created an intriguing ‘crunching’ sound and provided the dancers with extra material to explore.

Halfway through the performance the dancers donned wellies and fur coats and went outside, with the audience in quick pursuit. The dancers continued down the city streets remaining in character despite the on looking public spectators who didn’t know what was going on.  The audience were confronted with the problem of uncertainty as most worried about evading the dancers performance space and were unsure of how close to get. The piece excelled in challenging the long established audience-performer relationship to its limits thus providing the audience with a different view of the piece.

Overall, the choreographic work was enchanting, with so many different aspects happening at once. The dancers were focused on what they were doing and used everything that was available to them in the environment they were in. Also, throughout the piece there was a sense of unity between all of the dancers and this was highlighted in sections of the dance such as when moving through the streets in a tight huddle.