Ekleido - Splice | Rorschach
Image - Jack Thomson
REview | Taylor Anderson
Taking your seat at an Ekleido show feels like walking into a rave – it’s dark, and the music is pumping. If you don’t club, welcome!
SPLICE and RORSCHACH are the two dance pieces – each as weird and wonderful as the other – which formed the mind-blowing double bill at The Place last month. Whether it’s a single, double, or triple bill, an Ekleido performance is a must for anyone who wants to see the impossible made possible.
For those who don’t know, Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser are two choreographers who built a body of work together under the collective brand called Ekleido. They bring a unique style to the world of dance, infused with the vibe of underground club scenes. Their language of movement is a blend of many different genres, resulting in choreography that feels distinctly their own. For seasoned dancers, you can consistently spot technique being challenged. It’s kind of punk, and I may regret saying this, but it’s pretty ‘brat’.
Image - Paul Hampartsoumian
The fizzy electro music (composed by British musician Floating Points), contortionist bends, sharp dynamics and harsh lighting, felt as if Hannah and Faye were shaking us by the shoulders, forcing our attention to stay on them and them only. There wasn’t a single second during these two pieces when my monkey brain wandered off. And that’s rare, believe me.
Throughout the performance, they blended new wave voguing, breaking and contemporary dance techniques. The fusion of this broad range of styles along with the unexpected pace changes, will keep you hooked and on your toes. Throw in a few dangerously hyper-extended twists, and Ekleido offers a fresh way of moving. At times there was a gasp from the audience, a collective “HOW THE F*** ARE THEY DOING THAT?”
Now, lets get down to the nitty gritty of the double bill. The first piece, SPLICE, focuses on “the balance between limitation and possibility to solve a physical puzzle”. During the piece, Faye and Hannah’s limbs are like jigsaw pieces, slotting around each other, intertwined and connecting to form eye-opening shapes. The black, sparkling costumes with white stripes, called to mind two mimes in conversation with each other, moving together as halves of the same whole.
Image - Jack Thomson
Then, RORSCHACH splashed onto the stage with an impressive premiere, that felt familiar in style and slipped seamlessly into Ekleido’s repetoire. This piece has a stronger sense of story to its premise: “a future society where individuals are subjected to a mandatory Rorschach trial – a journey of self-revelation and survival”. This time, however, a third artist joined the duo on stage – Jasper Narvaez. Watching the duo become a trio was a thrilling ride as they moved around each other effortlessly, as if Jasper had been on stage the entire double bill. As the trio bring the silhouettes of the inkblots to life using their bodies, the audience are brought into the vision of an intrusive future, themselves invited to interpret the shapes and be subjected to the inkblot test.
Ekleido is bringing a new type of energy and flair to the dance world—one that’s vibrant, exciting, and perfectly in tune with the cultural zeitgeist. I can’t wait for more.
For information on Ekleido click here and make sure you catch them next year: https:// www.ekleido.co.uk/