The prestigious Australian troupe Gravity & Other Myths is back in Montreal for the fourth time, bringing with it a poetry of the body and an acrobatic mastery unlike any other.
The proof is once again with the show The Mirror, a resolutely contemporary circus ballet presented at Tohu. Eight acrobats join their efforts with those of a captivating and sensual singer (Megan Drury) who occupies a central place in director Darcy Grant’s proposal.
On a stage often plunged into darkness, the artists multiply acrobatic figures, dance numbers and balancing postures in a meticulously rehearsed choreography.
Here, the public is not so ecstatic about the extreme dangerousness of the figures. He is satisfied with beauty while admiring the precision of the gestures. What elsewhere would ooze effort seems astonishingly easy here. The bodies barely tremble as they pile up on top of each other to form solid, straight human towers.
These physical feats are displayed in a very sober environment dominated by LED lights, live projections and neon lights. A way of criticizing, it is said, the omnipresence of cameras, selfies and screens in our lives… A statement (not very original, let’s say it) which would have deserved to be explored better.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Singer Megan Drury adds a touch of sensuality to the whole.
At the microphone, the singer uses her warm voice to insert extracts from popular songs that are cleverly deconstructed. We recognize the words of Michael Jackson, Queen, Bill Withers or David Bowie thrown around without being able to identify the common thread that holds them together. A hypnotizing exercise, but which ultimately loses its element of surprise.
This is also one of the problems of The Mirror. The proposal goes a bit in circles.
The acrobatic forms are repeated, the curtains close and open tirelessly, the acrobats make and undo the same gestures in scenes which multiply to infinity and which often stretch unduly. A bit as if we were looking at the show through the lens of a kaleidoscope… It moves in every corner and it’s very pretty, but in the end, nothing really holds our attention.
Result: after 80 minutes of show, we leave the TOHU admiring the masterful ballet we have just witnessed. But without feeling heartbroken.
Visit the show page
The Mirror
By Gravity & Other Myths Companion
La TohuUntil March 3