Suspended Chorus
Project Arts Centre, Dublin
★★★☆☆
A microphone hangs low, nearly touching the stark white floor, when Silvia Gribaudi takes the stage. Wearing white patent Mary Janes and knee socks that, endearingly, fall to her ankles as she dances, Gribaudi immediately breaks down the fourth wall by asking a member of the audience to read aloud the programme notes. This foreshadows the sense of inclusion that stitches together Suspended Chorus.
Her one-woman show at Dublin Dance Festival bravely illuminates the vulnerability of performers, particularly female dancers of a certain age who defy Instagrammable stereotypes. From the beginning she ingratiates herself by establishing a warm, witty rapport, stopping her movements every so often to invite the audience into the collective experience. When she dances she combines disco-infused moves with contemporary ones, letting loose with grace, fluidity and a sense of abandon.
At times it’s hard to follow how the group participation fits into her overall plan, such as when she asks for guesses on the physical weight of certain body parts. Audience members spontaneously shout out “a hand weighs one kilogram”, “a head weighs 10 kilograms” and “a pelvis weighs 20 kilograms”, information that she takes on board and then, without drawing an obvious connection, dances again.
Any lack of continuity is forgiven, however, when later she strips down to her nude undergarments and sings like a performer laid bare. Here she becomes completely unguarded, and the joy she expresses through her primal ability to move becomes contagious.
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After so much coercing people to participate, her focus shifts completely inward, as if moving in a trance. Then she snaps out of it, reconnecting with those around her. “Celebrate our bodies,” Gribaudi urges before taking the spotlight once more in a frolic around the stage.
Her final act of inclusion, asking audience members to speak their names into microphones being passed around, poignantly lends the performance its name.
Suspended Chorus is at Project Arts Centre, as part of Dublin Dance Festival, until Wednesday, May 13th
