Merlot-coloured velveteen drapes line the space. A seedy cabaret band plays in the corner. A pair of tango dancers exchange clipped steps under glittering cylindrical chandeliers.
This is Circa, part of Glasgow's new Six Stages season of Canadian dance and drama. It is performed by dance duo the Holy Body Tattoo, with music (and powerful theatrics) from London's cult Brecht and Weill-inspired three-piece band The Tiger Lillies. Holy Body's Noam Gagnon and Dana Gingras are known for a body-bruising physical theatre that uses extreme and often violent duet-work as a metaphor for relationships. Here, they exploit the tense, ritualistic sexuality of the tango motif to create a shadowy world where characters and their pasts are glimpsed in a sinister half-light.