Just to let all Critical Dance readers know that Retina are presenting the World Premiere of their new production X: at Stratford Circus on Saturday 26 January 2002. For tickets call 020 8279 1000.<P>X: explores what is real and what is manipulation. <BR>Four dancers/contestants compete for X:, surrendering to the physical and mental tasks required for success. The pressure mounts throughout the piece, becoming more absurd and frantic, challenging the perception of the witness...<P>If you go to see the show we would love to hear your feedback<P>Kyla Lucking<BR>Administrator

Thanks for the information Kyla. unfortunately I will be out of London that day, but I have three questions:<P>- how much are the tickets?<BR>- who is dancing in this one?<BR>- is there an associated tour scheduled yet and if so do you have the dates? <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited January 22, 2002).]

Thanks Stuart - good questions!<P>Tickets cost £8/£4 concs/£3 with a Go Card<BR>Box Office no. 020 8279 1000<P>Dancers are - Gildas Diquero, Maho Ihara, Nadia Sellier, Filip Van Huffel<BR>X: features a specially composed score by Steve Blake (who has worked with The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs previously).<BR>Lighting deisgn by Sarah Gilmartin<BR>Costumes by Sarah Baeten and Veerle Janssen<BR>Set by Jean Meirlaen<BR>I have forwarded a tour list to Stuart so hopefully that will be posted soon.<P>If anybody would like any more information about X: or Retina please feel free to visit our website <A HREF="http://www.retinadance.com" TARGET=_blank>www.retinadance.com</A> or email natalie@retinadance.com.<P>Thanks<P>Kyla Lucking<BR>Administrator<BR>Retina Dance Company<BR>c/o Greenwich Dance Agency<BR>Borough Hall<BR>Royal Hill<BR>London<BR>SE10 8RE<BR>020 8858 9558

Retina Dance Company <BR>World Premiere of X:<BR>26 January 2002, Stratford Circus<BR>Review <P><BR>The international quartet Retina has created an abstract gameshow--brilliant yet overly thorough. You are initially intrigued by this hour of challenges but, like reading a comprehensive crime file, you eventually become desensitised.<P>X: tests the dancers' accuracy, speed, stillness, perseverance and commitment (italics). As in a game of Battleship, the contestants fling themselves upon a giant grid calling out B22, F9,…. They are equipped with both skillfully massive maneuvers and subtle humour. Filip Van Huffel (Belgium) bobs his bald head and allows Maho Ihara (Japan) to roll it round her body like a ball, then he tells us that if he wins tonight he would like to "let his hair down.” The dancers are accompanied by the all-too-recognizable voices and sounds of TV gameshows. <P>And then it stops. The dancers pose, the soundtrack cuts out, and the atmosphere turns uncomfortable. These long minutes of control and balance are visually dull. Waiting...waiting... you realise this stillness test is taking advantage of your patience. Call it DaDa or call it demanding; this bold choice doesn’t work. <P>After a bit more psychiatric and disheartening action, X: recaptures its audience. Strategic shifting, dashing, and flopping return to the focus. The game objectives become more evident. You sympathise with Nadia Sellier (New Zealand) and her epic struggle to reach the opposite side of the stage while being held back by the handsome Frenchman Gildas Diquero. <P>Despite ingenious complexity, each segment is pushed beyond its limits of duration and exposure. The movement sequences are shown from all possible angles. Transitions between segments are so fully explored they become as weighty as the segments themselves. Although skillfully created, the intrigue is sadly diluted.<P>X: proves to be a game of vigorous, witty, yet excessive dance theatre. <BR>

<BR><small>'X' by Retina; image by Bart Van Leuven</small><P>Thanks for your review Shawn. 'X' does sound intriguing and I'll try to see it when it comes to The Place. It would be great if we had some other reviews a 'X' tours the country and the world! <P><BR>Here's the tour programme for 'X'. I love the fact the fact that the exciting show in Bangalore is followed by (I'm sure the equally exciting) Cleethorpes: <P><BR>6.2.02 Attakkalari Festival, Bangalore, India<P> <BR> <BR>15.2.02 Cleethorpes, (venue tbc)<P> <BR> <BR>23.2.02 Lawrence Batley Theatre, Queens Square, Queens Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2SP Box office: 01484 425828<P> <BR> <BR>5.3.02 Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, LA1 4YW Box office: 01524 594157<P> <BR> <BR>7 - 8.3.02 Stadsschouwberg Sint Niklaas, R. Van Britsomstraat 21, 9100 St. Niklaas, Belgium Box office: 03 766 3939<P> <BR> <BR>15.3.02 Mick Jagger Centre, Shepherds Lane, Dartford, DA1 2JZ Box office: 01322 291100 (tbc)<P> <BR> <BR>22 - 23.3.02 Sheffield Crucible Theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S 1 1DA Box office: 0114 249 5999<P> <BR> <BR>19.4.02 Exeter Phoenix Bradninch Place, Gandy Street, Exeter, Devon, EX4 3LS Box office: 01392 667080 (tbc)<P> <BR> <BR>2.5.02 Gulbenkian Theatre, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NB Box office: 01227 827677 (tbc)<P> <BR> <BR>4 - 5.6.02 The Robin Howard Dance Theatre, The Place, 17 DukeÕs Road, London, WC2H 9AB Box office: 020 7387 0031 (tbc)<P> <BR> <BR>29.6.02 Chichester Festival, University College Chichester, College Lane, Chichester, PO19 4PE Box office: 01243 816161 <P> <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited February 02, 2002).]

Just to update<P>The performance on 15.2.02 at Cleethorpes is:<P>Lindsey School and Comunity Arts College

Review of X: in The Guardian.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>You half expect Bruce Forsyth to wander on muttering "Cuddly toy, cuddly toy" in this witty new piece from Anglo-Belgian quartet Retina Dance. It's a case of The Generation Game meets Dog Eats Dog via Countdown and Survivor. <BR>Inspired by TV game shows, X: is a surreal world where four contestants slog it out on a chequered board in a strange game of human chess. The idea is to cross the squares to win the star prize<BR><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,3604,674598,00.html" TARGET=_blank> <B> MORE </B> </A>

No prize as X: misses the spot
By Ellie Carr for The Sunday Herald (Glasgow)


The premise was good. Four performers play contestants in a TV game show that never ends, competing for an unknown 'prize' in an attempt to fill the yawning gap in their lives. But somewhere along the line, Filip van Huffel's choreography for his Anglo-Belgian company Retina Dance becomes as tedious as the game shows it describes.
Huffel himself is a quirky mover; his spidery limbs doodling endearingly to a soundtrack that builds a forceful repetitive groove from sampled Countdown contestants requesting those all-important vowels and consonants from Carol. And the show's design concept -- a set of four z-shaped 'hot-seats' that line the back of the stage and a grid-shaped floor pattern that acts as an outsize board game -- is full of promise.

But ultimately, X: looks like one of those shows where too much democracy spoils the choreography. It's as if everyone had 40 different ideas to contribute and Huffel didn't have the heart to leave any of them out.

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