https://x.com/ThePrickle/status/1900033631411986947

Is dance more about original shapes & movement, or elaborate set design & visual effects? The two solo pieces that make up maliphantworks4 seem to suggest the answer is somewhere in the middle.

Opening with a gorgeously adventurous routine by (and with) Russell Maliphant, In a Landscape, the first piece features a number of veils, rolled up to be nearly invisible, or spread across the stage with a lovely draping effect. Maliphant himself, in great shape and aided by brilliant lighting design (Panagiotis Tomaras), plays with texture and light, both on himself and on the aforementioned veils. From projected silhouettes that make him double and triple (who needs a crew of dancers, when you’ve got an army of shadows?), to sculpting and painting with light itself, Maliphant puts us in front of a new way to conceive dance — almost a new artform altogether. The shapes on the drapes reminded me of the lines of Picasso’s Guernica, or a series of soundwaves from an Alvo Pärt symphony. Maliphant’s costume perfectly matches the set design, making him blend in with the pleated folds of the backdrop.

The acclaimed piece AfterLight is next, performed by Daniel Proietto. Just as I remembered, he’s both mellow and algid, drawn primarily by his elbows and wrists, and gliding on stage to the notes of Satie’s Gnossiennes. My favourite moment was the soft, soundless, effortless somersault he did right in front of me, proving remarkable dexterity in moving from the floor level to high up, and vice versa.

With a short interval, where one has the chance to take in the wonderful quirkiness of The Coronet Theatre bar, plus the lovely blasts from the past Film One and Film Two, the piece is only one hour in length. But one hour is all it takes to showcase the possibilities of dance, in a multi-layered but deliciously self-contained show.

Anna Zanetti

Playing at The Coronet Theatre 10 – 12 March 2025.