AN INCREDIBLE DISPLAY OF FITNESS

CUDO
Created by Momentum Productions with support from Malia Johnston (Movement of the Human)
Soundtrack: Andrew Cesan
AV: Harley Campbell, Rowan Pierce, at Theatre Royal, Nelson, 23 Oct 2017, 60 mins
Reviewed by Lisa Allan, 23 Oct 2017

CUDO is an urban contemporary dance show. It is performed by six dancers, a DJ and an AV team – all male.  

Starting in silence, CUDO captures my interest immediately. I am taken to an inner space. A sacred space. A space where one can connect to their own rhythms and to the rhythms of the Earth. One by one the dancers are revealed, each moving to their private tune, enjoying their bodies and celebrating the unique ways in which they move. This is one of my favourite aspects of this show.  

Another is the crowd-pleasing body percussion sequence. Starting simply and growing to a complex and layered conclusion, the dancers exhibit a beautiful sense of connection and concentration. They play with one another and the impetus for movement shifts from the inner to the outer.  

A local who is involved in the dance scene says to me (after) that at times it’s like “peering into the future of dance”. The electronic sounds and mind-bending projections that we jump to next feel very much like we've sped through time, into a completely different reality. The natural progression from the body percussion sequence seems to me to be the exploration of percussion with other bodies, then with other surfaces, perhaps even bringing in some percussive voice work before sliding into the rhythms made by machines.

I understand that CUDO is a new work. As it develops I'd love to see more attention given to the overall stage picture. With six bodies to play with there are many possibilities for creating surprising and different spatial relationships. I'd love to see more connection between the dancers and a rigorous exploration of the space as three dimensional. I'd also ask each dancer to really know why they are dancing and to let that pour out of them.

The piece is an incredible display of fitness and a sequence of extreme tempo escalation receives warm applause from the audience. 

There are some stunning moments that deserve mention: the slow motion throwing of an energy ball and the elastic effect it has on the other dancers; anytime a dancer leaves the ground; the sneaky backwards somersault at the back of the stage and the moment after the bow, where each dancer gets to sign the stage with their unique brand of movement.

The piece ends with a scattered standing ovation and many exclamations of “I want to go dance!” 

SHOW REVIEW