John Scott and the Irish Modern Dance Theatre come to the Smock Alley Theatre to present ‘Everything Now’, or their “final gesture” before they are “thrown off a cliff”. A diverse cast of dancers explore themes of identity, consumption and nationhood in this forty-minute inter-disciplinary dance piece as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival.
Scott’s creative choreography is met with the stunning lighting design of Niamh Cooke, while Kila’s Brian Hogan furnishes the piece with powerful music. Design, ensemble and direction work together to produce a performance of paradoxes. ‘Everything Now’ is at once violent and peaceful, dreamy and nightmarish, and serious and comedic. Scott’s choreography is physically demanding of his entire company, and his dancers perform an astonishing fleet in which their bodies are pushed to the absolute limit.
Scott’s choreographic style combines contemporary dance, ballet and the spoken word with elements from the 1960s to produce work that is both physically impressive and politically resonant. Justine Doswell’s costumes compliment the lines of Scott’s technically proficient cast. The productions highlight involves a virtuosic pas de deux danced by Kevin Coquelard and Maurice Ivy. Impressive dance technique is matched with complex emotive expression to create a touching pas de deux which confronts ideas surrounding masculinity and identity.
Above all else, ‘Everything Now’ is concerned with transcendence through physicality, and this theme is amplified in Scott’s group choreography. As they generate pace, rhythm and motion, the performers desire to overcome boundaries becomes at once infectious and empowering.
‘Everything Now’ evokes a physical and emotional response. Audience members are moved by an astonishing fleet of rhythm, dance and poetry, while the production’s tenderness is both grounding and reassuring. ‘Everything Now’ is a harmonic symphony of movement and music.
by Sarah McKenna-Barry
Catch Everything Now at the Smock Alley Theatre until September 17th .