Dance
Ten Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline
Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Mary Brennan
*****
AN ear-splitting bang cuts through the darkness, a dazzling light suddenly flares - it’s an explosive opening to 10 Soldiers, the blast a reminder of what new recruits actually sign up for. The boot camp exercises and the in synch square-bashing that Rosie Kay replicates so meticulously in her choreography aren’t ‘war games’ ... they’re the tough preparation for active service on some callous battlefield. What we’re watching is the basic grit of army life, researched first hand by Kay for her earlier piece 5 Soldiers and now underpinning this astutely expanded version with its larger cast.
In 2008, when Kay began exploring aspects of army training and rehabilitation, her own resources only stretched to a unit of five dancers: four men, one woman. Nonetheless she made a compelling work that vividly encompassed the rigorous physical demands of training, and highlighted the mental and emotional challenges of being part of a close-knit team in the field, and yet retaining your individuality when off-duty. With a company of ten - eight men, two women, one of them an officer - Kay now delves deeper into barrack-room tensions and rituals, examining equality and diversity in the process. Macho camraderie again cuts loose in camp prancing to Katy Perry’s Firework, until combative horseplay reveals simmering rivalries. Sexism and sexual urges overlap, and unleash predatory aggression that then melts away into an escapist yearning for tenderness left behind in civvy street. Kay’s remarkable dancers account for every shift of mood and (often fiercely athletic) movement style with more than mettlesome prowess - they bring honesty and thoughtfulness to their on-stage characters. The truth of that sub-title, The Body is the Frontline, hits us when heavy shell fire causes life-changing injuries to a member of the corps - his determination to soldier on is one of the most haunting, harrowing images you’re ever likely to see on a stage…
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