Zig Zag: classic Classique

What is it about the Classique dancers that makes them so enviably good? There is little to say, except watch them dance, and try to understand the passion that defines what they do.

More aptly, try keeping up with them. In a few haunting minutes– just under five– Classique offered up a rather twisted yet fun interpretation of Rihanna’s “Disturbia” as part of its Zig Zag show on Saturday last at the National Cultural Centre (NCC), and affirmed why its reputation is building so fast; the dance was mesmerizing.

It was a creepy story of a struggle with lunacy; a physically demanding challenge to twist every bone in one’s body without breaking any. Watching the dancers as they coiled across the stage in a sort of demented, excited way drew empathy; you could not help but feel involved somehow. It was dark but not depressing choreography– a tasteful depiction of things mental.

To feel it, you had to follow it from the first few seconds when the dancers tumbled onto the stage like they had dropped from about ten feet above then broke into a series of curvatures. The entire performance appeared puppet-like—minus the strings.   
 
Good as “Disturbia” was, there was one dance that soared above it and which was better. Better in the sense that you sat watching as it unfolded for the first few minutes and had no idea what was happening yet your eyes could not leave this one male dancer, John Reman, one of the more experienced performers with Classique. He was alone on the stage, dressed as a Spanish bullfighter, and moving like one too–gracefully and poetically.

The music he moved to was so haunting it sent chills through you. What was he doing? Performing a dance so good it needed only a strong dancer, and a keen sense of timing, which he has. But the dance developed into something more. It was about this autocratic ruler who took pleasure out of enslaving his subjects. He ruled with an iron fist and his subjects cowered like the helpless bunch that they were.

Inevitably, there was revolt and another popular dancer, Paul Charles, beautifully danced the part of the rebellious one leading the revolution. There were shades of resentment and some amount of sexuality in the depiction that evoked the nervous laughter with which Guyanese audiences now receive performances that make them uncomfortable. At times too, there were a few outspoken comments about the appropriateness of the piece as it was an all-male performance. Nevertheless, it was compelling stuff.

By far, this was best dance of the night; a night in which Classique showed its dominance in contemporary dancing and just how good it is as a troupe. There was some question as to whether the male dancers upstaged the females; this is still open to debate. If it were up to who easily won the crowd and had the best moves, it was the men, but when grace and form get thrown into the equation the women will get the nod.

Zig Zag was meant take its audience from one place to the next without following any particular sequence, and it just did that. One time there was African fever spreading across the NCC as the dancers moved to the sounds of drums and what sounded like chants, and the next soca vibes were filling up the place.

In the second half of the show there was a sequence; the performances had a storyline and an interesting one. The dancers took on issues such as parenting, the negative impact of drugs, dancehall mania and how it affects children, and even the foreign-mindness that seems to consume some locals. It was not the best fusion of drama and dancing, but it was certainly impressive.

We watched as one little girl went through her first crush, as one street bum had flashes of the good life he lived before cocaine, and as the younger folks partied into the night during a passa passa session. A message was thrust in the end of the sequence and as the show wrapped up, but people could have easily missed it; it was a dance show after all not an edifying session.

Classique had an extremely good night. The show rocked and people turned out in great numbers to witness it. Its director, Clive Prowell and the dancers should take a bow for continuing to be creative and fun. (ianaseales@yahoo.com)