IN TRANSLATION

An enclosed black space with down lights, dancers in individualistic casual clothes, flowing movement, fluent interpretation, sophisticated semaphore, Emanuel Gat's IN TRANSLATION to Bach's English Suite No 2 in A Minor is beautiful, intelligent, and proves the dancers can dance.

The second episode, by contrast, takes us on a brief journey into contemporary movement, set to the ever-moving strains of Bach. Everyday attire, understated gestures, and a choreographic style that is clean and minimalist—offering no major surprises but showcasing the remarkable technical prowess of the talented dancers.

Emanuel Gat's In Translation is a hushed abstract composition, set to Bach and interludes of silence, that deftly weaves together fluid phrases for its six dancers. There are slippery trios for the women, like silken knots unbraiding; a duet for two men is tauter, more elastic. It's a real pleasure to watch.

The second segment was my favorite tonight. [...] The silence on stage was never truly silent; the breath of movement, the collision of bodies with the floor, all resonated with striking clarity. To me, the dancers weren’t merely performers; they became two flowing strokes of vibrant color.

Gat's fluid movement style, swirling, with lots of floor work and poetic arm choreography, looks, as it often does, like a completely casually created series of dance impulses, and suits the seven dancers well, to the point that their physical handicaps are actually irrelevant.

A pleasing slice of “pure” dance set to Bach. Six dancers in street clothes twist and reach with a casual, laboratorial rigour. Their light, watchful touch counters the almost relentless pace of Gat’s choreography. The lynchpin of all the activity is Victoria Malin, whose slower and beautifully serene solos lend this work a welcome air of calm.

You do feel like you are watching an improvisation session, each dancer being so playful with one another and bouncing off each other’s every movement. [...] Tableaux’s and body lines are incredible, and dancer, Annie Hanauer, especially, really blows you away with her technique and ability.