Protein Dance, The Banquet

Review in Issue 15-4 | Winter 2003

Richard Strange is tall, bald and wry. He is a musician, writer and adventurer and together with David Coulter (formerly of the Pogues) he created a bizarre live soundtrack with voice, accordion and guitar for Protein Dance's new show 'The Banquet'. The four dancers were rough and ready with their bodies, throwing themselves around the stage with gusto and passion. They fluctuated brilliantly between extreme animal physicalisations and posh toffs at a party. The sexual agendas, both animal and human, were played out in the style of a wildlife documentary with Richard Strange 'performing David Attenborough

The piece had an old-fashioned feel to it, accentuated by the slightly derivative set (Kantor meets Richard Foreman) and dull lighting. The high point of the performance was a beautifully evolutionary dance at the start with the dancers transforming from monkey to insect and back to human again under the glare of a UV light. wish it had continued in this vein Another high point was a primeval sumo wrestling-style comedy duo between the two male dancers which parodied the maleness of men beautifully. But overall the piece had a dull, unoriginal feel to it, as if we'd seen it all before.

Presenting Artists
Presenting Venue
Date Seen
  1. Oct 2003

This article in the magazine

Issue 15-4
p. 26