Review | Hong Kong dance show’s political undertones hit home with genuinely frightening and shocking scenes
- Beyond Dance Theatre’s Remnants presents a number of intriguing symbols as its two central characters, who perform immaculately, rally against conformity
- The confident and passionate production confirms Kelvin Mak as one of the most exciting choreographers of his generation in Hong Kong
The breathtaking opening of Beyond Dance Theatre’s Remnants immediately reveals the conundrum at the core of this new production: is it possible to hold on to individuality when the self is inevitably tethered to the body politic, no matter how rotten and manipulative the collective system is?
As the curtains part, a narrow searchlight scans the width of the dark stage, bringing the silhouette of a monumental, beastlike sculpture into view. The lights come on, revealing the monolith to be a mass of near-naked bodies, limbs tightly intertwined. One person pulls free, then another, and another, before the whole splits apart and the dancers spill across the stage. Liberated, they experiment with their own bodies, befuddled and bewildered like newborns, and then with increasing confidence.
But there is one member who is less certain. Poon Chun-ho plays the awkward and vulnerable outsider to perfection, always out of sync, even when the others frolic in innocent abandonment in this fleeting Eden. He finds sympathy and tenderness from a woman (performed by Peggy Chow Pak-yin, who very nearly upstages Poon), his only ally while the others hurriedly move on.
From there, the two begin a lonely battle against conforming to new rules in a society manipulated by a besuited man with a black stocking pulled over his head, black umbrella in hand.
There is a strong hint of the latter in a scene where the whole stage is bathed in red light as the dancers circulate in between neat rows of small, wooden chairs. They move independently at the beginning, revelling in an exhibition of creative and playful choreography. But then, obeying some silent instruction, they start to sit down one by one; Poon, however, still only half-clothed, hasn’t got the memo and starts to draw attention to himself, until Chow pulls him into position. The sight of all the dancers fallen in line, rhythmically tapping, with a forced smile frozen on their faces, is genuinely frightening.