Dance Review: Compagnie Herve Koubi's 'Sol Invictus' * Oregon ArtsWatch

"Suddenly, he flipped and balanced in a handstand while the other dancers crossed the stage alone or in pairs. They moved in a flood of leaps, spins, and spirals, arms waving, until it became impossible to know where to look. As suddenly as it began, the dancing stopped until one lone dancer, Badr Ben Rguibi, flipped over and began spinning on his head, a human top."

"The company of 18 dancers almost never stopped moving - spinning, running, leaping, flipping, twirling, acrobatics. The movements were inspired by urban dance movements - Hip-Hop, Electro Funk, Disco, Freestyle, and Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art developed by enslaved Africans in Brazil as a disguised form of self-defense, combining fighting, dance, acrobatics, and music. One moment the dancers are united in a sort of jubilant folk dance, in the next a friendly street dance battle breaks out."

"The performance is meant to be four distinct sections, but the constant movement of the dancers felt fluid and unbroken. One visually dramatic sequence involved a long stretch of metallic gold fabric, the production's only set piece, which becomes a translucent parachute enveloping first Francesca Bazzucchi, one of three women dancers in the company, then later the one-legged Samuel Da Silveira Lima."

Sol Invictus unfolds as a 70-minute, relentless display of athletic, exuberant dancing by a company of 18 performers. Solo moments give way to rapid group sequences of spins, flips, leaps, and acrobatics drawn from Hip-Hop, Electro Funk, Disco, Freestyle, and Capoeira. The choreography alternates between jubilant, folk-like unity and playful street-dance battles, with constant motion creating a seamless flow across four intended sections. A striking visual element is a long metallic gold fabric that transforms into a translucent parachute, enveloping individual dancers, including Francesca Bazzucchi and the one-legged Samuel Da Silveira Lima, emphasizing theatricality and physical daring.

Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News