Summary
The Beirut International Platform of Dance 2017 opened over the weekend with a show of bright primary colors, car accidents, Brazilian carnival and swimming.
Choreographed by Guilherme Botelho and performed by his Geneva-based company Alias, "Le Poids des Eponges" ("The Weight of a Sponge") offers a surreal window into everyday reality. Moments in the banal domesticity of a family of four unfold to the accompaniment of three repeated pieces of music, interrupted or paralleled by other figures that orbit their lives.
It was one of the elements of the choreography that required strength, endurance and characterization from dancers, as well technical skill.
The swimmer is among the dancers that helped frame the domestic setting at the core or the work.
The tempo and tone of "Vai Passar" is rousing and joyful, guiding the more funny, festive or frenetic portions of the piece.
An upright piano and a chair gliding across the stage of its own accord are just two of the elements that made this show technically challenging.
In the showstopping final sequence, water bursts from the rafters to cover the stage just in time for 10 cast members to swim laps – while the daughter sits reading quietly on the couch.
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