Dancing Brick, 6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won

Review in Issue 21-4 | Winter 2009

Dancing Brick’s latest show sparkles in the Pleasance Dome. Heap Krusiak and Pebble Adverati are skating champions who must adapt to a world without ice. This lovely idea is developed with physical ingenuity. Thomas Eccleshare and Valentina Ceschi capture gushing celebrity and coy emptiness perfectly, with every twitch. The ice dance champions, a Torvill and Dean satire, are very funny. Their greatest work includes Escape, a political piece in which they play Tibet and the Dalai Lama. Apollo features Neil Armstrong and the lunar docking module, whilst shaving eighteen seconds off Holst’s The Planets.

The theme of global warming is cleverly understated. The pair struggle to perform on a wooden floor because the ice has melted, but the environmental catastrophe is not overdone; instead, explored through comedy. Details of the design, costumes and music also work well. Heap nonchalantly wastes plastic bottles of a bright blue sports drink, taking a single sip from each, even before giving Pebble hers. Audio ranges from birdsong to White Christmas. The comic timing is perfect, including the audience participation. Three volunteers receive whispered or card instructions to play interviewers, and are always handled sensitively.

My only quibble is with the structure of the show. This is nicely non-linear, with the stars taking final bows throughout. However, the shape of the piece can seem flat, with the story left hanging. This is nonetheless a beautiful follow-up to last year’s 21:13. Eccleshare and Ceschi are two engaging young performers with… star quality.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Festival
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Aug 2009

This article in the magazine

Issue 21-4
p. 29