Limbs truly airborne

Press, 3 June 1981, Page 6

Limbs truly airborne

Limbs Dance Company. ’Bl Tour, at Theatre Royal, May 2 and 3. Reviewed by Heath Lees. Limbs excelled last evening with a series of dances ioosely grouped under the title “By Airmail.” The.device of having a programme in the form of ah aerogramme letter was a neat touch, and somehow suited the imaginative but slightly ephemeral • style they have adopted in the past. The programme on this tour is still imaginative, but. has an enduring quality that is a real pleasure to see Movements are carefully thought out and beautifully controlled,, yet their essentia spontaneity is never in jeo pardyi In spite of the - rea , solidity: t)f structure. am technique . there .is still ai enthusiasm that attracts th< audience from the start, ant remains 'fresh throughout tin evening. Even the odd bit of stage setting is done with tongue

in-cheek and mock-embar-rassed. throw-away lines, so that chairs, for example, are put down in full uninhibited view, not with a bang but with a simper. The opening dance, ,"The Commute," was great' fun. with one commuter, in spite of his office uniform, standing out from the rest. The surreal excursions were executed skilfully, and the sudden changes in mood were breathtaking. "Swingers." which followed, was typical of Limbs slap-happy, pop-jazz idiom, though ; done with a style and. precision that makes them the envy of every “Ready to Roll” producer. This was really just a filler before "Outside the Fight," which was one of the main pieces of the first;half and featured the astonishingly good male dancers, who projected the swagger and showbiz glamour of the prizefighting world, yet with an undercurrent of sympathy and disillusionment..

Real violence erupted against the hard-core voice of Marianne Faithfull, the dancers exuding, pent-up aggression in the constant tension, destruction and reforming of their movements. Even the old cliche of black leotard against blood-red background was re-worked confidently and convincingly — a sign of the new maturity that Limbs seems suddenly to have gained. • A-fter a sensuous choreography to a quartet movement by Dvorak. Limbs presented their main piece, “Saga.” which might have captured the primitive world better with more authentic music. Or perhaps it was that , the length of the piece needed a stronger, more mythological . significance. But' again, it was danced .with great commitment. and lit strikingly. Obviously Limbs have now come of age. Their fledgling days are over, and the comEany is well and truly airorhe.