Masquerade (tour – Colchester)

A gleaming black floor reflects the action and the not-so-inanimate objects which punctuate it. As with any such reflection, there is distortion on more than one level. So a simple white duvet whirls itself into a farthingale and then extends as the female performer is raised aloft by two of her partners. A girl suddenly dances with three legs or appears with a reversed face mask. A young man loses part of his clothing, apparently in an arbitrary fashion. Disembodied heads, arms and hands attach themselves at will to unwary recipients. A shimmering dark slug of fabric both disgorges and engulfs unwary sleepers.

With all this going on, the actual dance movements take second place, though they are very well executed by Amy Bell, Joy Constantinides, Anna Richmond, Natalie Thorn, Jake Dodd and Simon Palmer. There’s a lot of floor work as well as complex lifts all within a soundscape designed by Jeremy Cox, through which tangles some instantly recognisable Ravel and Gorecki. The grey costumes are by Sayako Kaibuchi and the excellent masks by John Schoonraad.