You Move's tenofus

here's what I wrote for Sydney Arts Guide
http://www.sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1309

YOU MOVE'S 'TENOFUS' Five short, sharp, challenging and exciting works combine to make the latest program for You Move. The first work, ‘Compact Homosapien’, choreographed by Anton and performed by Anna Healey , was gripping and intense . Healey,  in a white short sleeved costume at first was like an alien being or a just hatched insect drying its wings in the sun. The costume emphasised the skeletal backbone and was sort of like a carapace. Healey was trapped in a square of light .At first there was a hesitant but determined exploration of space with angular, twisted arms and stretched fingers. Eventually, with stretches and lunges, Healey’s creature stands and further examines the space. There is some fluid floor-work and incredible use of a very flexible back. The vivid, winged creature is caught and cannot escape. Marvelous. The second work , ‘Ephemera ‘, choreographed by Narelle Benjamin and performed by Jayne Field, had a mysterious, captivation atmosphere and an Asian influence. Field wore a lacy white top and black  trousers that looked like a divided skirt. A large fan ,the percussive snap of which became part of the score , was a crucial prop. The opening began with a wonderful use of rippling arms and there were isolation movements for the shoulders. At one point there was a Pavlova- like ‘Dying Swan’ moment – or in this case, should that be ‘Madame Butterfly’?! Incredibly arched, pointed feet were used, in one section as a sculptural fan support. There was rolling floor-work and in one part a repeated use of beautifully stretched develope and rondes des jambes.  For the finale there is a repeated use of isolation movements of the arms and torso and Field appears to go to sleep – then vanishes into the darkness. ‘Palimpest ‘ by Tony Osborne and performed by Imogen Cranna was very strange and yet most exciting and impressive. It was as if Cranna, in a short sleeveless green dress with a pleated skirt, descended into Giselle or Ophelia’s madness. The opening , with Cranna twisted into a foetal like sculptural position , with a foot then a leg or arm gradually untangling , was brilliant. Eventually Cranna slowly rose to a standing position .There were insect like movements to centre stage and some very strange almost Butoh like work with Cranna’s marvelous long hair completely covering her face. Weird fragments of speech and certain repeated words were included and there was a particular repeated use of a phrase of hand movement at the end (almost like Lady M’s hand washing in her madness in the Scottish play). This was followed by  ‘Table For One’ , by Vicki van Hout , performed by Melinda Tyquin. For me , while this featured a great performance by Tyquin , it was the least successful work of the evening . Purporting to be about ‘ extreme misrepresentation and fixated obsession’ the forming of online relationships and the way our society has become taken over by computers , Tyquin comes across as a sluttish , untidy private eye (note the use of the magnifying glass , hint hint ) and there was a voice over about various cases . Tyquin has a hot and steamy solo ( to ‘Love to love you baby’) and a sequence where she is a heavily pregnant smoking mum to be ( the pillow used turns into the baby) .Interesting but inconclusive. The last work, ‘At What Price?’, choreographed and performed by Angela French , was about the preservation of water and saving the environment. French’s performance was terrific.  At first , in a plain black top and shorts ,she was a sea creature gasping for air ( and/or water ) down to the last drop. This was the contrasted with her in a stunning gold sparkly dress , dripping umpteen ropes of pearls , hooked up to and twisting away from two blue long lines ( a glittering sea creature caught in a net ?) .At the end there is a Pina Bausch like moment where the sea creature ‘dies’ , gasping for air and water among a cloud of empty , squashed water bottles. A thought provoking, most exciting program, with excellent performances. You Move’s TENOFUS, with a running time of about 90 minutes without interval, played at the Sidetrack Theatre between the 21st and 24th November, 2012. (C) Lynne Lancaster 26th November, 2012 Tags: Sydney Stage Reviews- TENOFUS, YOU MOVE Dance Company, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster