Winter, Again/Dreamers
Traverse, Edinburgh
Mary Brennan
FOUR STARS
Here's a chalk'n'cheese double bill from Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) that really showcases the talents, versatility, and technical elan of the current company.
Jo Stromgren's Winter, Again has an off-kilter, tainted edge - his characters go stir-crazy when it snows - while the new SDT commission, Anton Lachky's Dreamers, has technicolour bounce and a larky comic energy akin to cartoon capers. In fact, both pieces click together neatly, for they both go under the skin, as it were, to pinpoint what's going on inside people's heads.
In Dreamers,for instance, Audrey Rogero comes over all "phwoar...!" when confronted by three bare-torso-ed men. Thoughts become actions as Rogero gleefully checks out physiques, from pecs to crotch, with a graphic interest that is hilarious - so much for her "demure miss in little white frock" appearance! What lies beneath the pale grey suit of Francesco Ferrari? A cross between a bossy-boots tyrant and the child who liked to play Simon Says - his "dream" is to make everyone follow his orders, even when he's talking in a gibber of nonsense syllables. It's anarchy, the kind we all imagine as an antidote to dull routine. Lachky sets it leaping, spinning and exploding into witty, mercurial movement against the ordered beauty of Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Chopin and Vanhal.
Lust is what seethes and corrodes the individuals in Winter, Again. Blood lust, where passing animals are killed for sport. Carnal lust, where couplings are urgent, loveless sport. A daily lust to be cruel, to be one-up, to be selfish or stupid because the dark nights and the snow cover up sins against nature and other people. Flagrantly dramatic, and yet Stromgren weaves dark humour into the acts of predation he sets to Schubert's Wintereisse.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article