Bermudas is a cleverly-constructed choreography designed for a variable number of interpreters who interact with each other on a simple set of movements repeated organically in a perpetual flow. Starting from four basic gestures and following rigorous patterns, in Bermudas every performer exists alongside others and their directions are determined by each other’s presence on stage.
Inspired by the theories of chaos and magnetic fields, the work is a spectacular example of dynamic interaction and astounding virtuosity, it drags the audience into a sort of storm where ten dancers come and go quite fast, crossing the stage, moving in diagonals, alternating in small groups, alone, or all together. With sudden changes of rhythm, they generate a whirlwind of circular postures and arms spinning in all directions, like boreal winds, rhythmically inducing a sense of progression.
This tumultuous stream of moves builds a beautiful tension, a very intense energy field in which the dance activity is perceived as infinite encounters between individuals, who share the energy and feed each other trajectories. The choreography develops on the singular characteristics of the performers, they are given some clear formal patterns to follow, but each interaction is triggered by casual encounters, every movement echoes each others gestures, every performer picks up from the others but then develops independently.
Wearing very colourful t-shirts and shorts, dancers run with open arms without touching each other, establishing new relations, immersed in an empty setting illuminated by yellow and orange lights that warm up the atmosphere and remind us of the aurora borealis. The ever changing lighting design combined with joyful Caribbean music turns Bermudas into a vibrant atmosphere.
Together they build a rhythmically shared world where there’s no time to rest, but suddenly everything stops, one dancer on the stage, motionless at first, slowly performs articulate gestures in the air. The vibrant energy leaves room for a reflective calm, a quiet moment to collect vitality for the final part, that culminates again in a hectic dance, an absorbing vortex of stunning body control and electrified energy. The result is visually fantastic!
Performed by Compagnia MK and created by renowned choreographer Michele Di Stefano, Bermudas is part of Danza in Rete Festival, a dance festival promoted by Fondazione Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza and Fondazione Teatro Civico di Schio. Committed to promote dance in all its ways, the Festival takes place between the cities of Vicenza and Schio, in theatres and outdoor spaces.
Reviewed at Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza