[2014033] Bekitzor
Liat Kedem, Bella Hone-Saunders, Jill Crovisier @ Salad Days Inc.
6:00pm, Thu 20 Feb 2014
Despite having wandered down Gilbert Place literally hundreds of times in my life, I’d never even noticed the doorway leading upstairs to Salad Days before; there’s a distinctly lo-fi aesthetic when inside, with seating only available via a collection of ramshackle chairs, cushions on the hardwood floors, or the occasional windowsill. With the performance space in the short end of the L-shaped room, it was a tight squeeze; Bekitzor‘s short season had sold extremely well, with the additional early shows selling out also.
The short (listed as twenty-five minutes, but I’d wager it was even shorter) piece opened with video projected on the far wall; fragments of movement break the figures standing with their backs to us. The three dancers of Bekitzor – from Israel, Australia, and Luxembourg – slowly drifted into the space, and the repetitive scraping of arms against the walls and floor had me fearing the worst (after all, experimental dance pieces in the Fringe can be pretty hit-or-miss for me), but things soon picked up.
With an ethereal soundtrack punctuated with off-kilter percussion (apparently provided by Swimming, a local band), the dancers used the space creatively; legs used the walls to create odd forms, the light from the projector used for shadow play, and there was just enough slapping of the floor with hands to break up the motion… but not enough to get annoying. The video footage, which set the pace of the piece, was also cunningly used; the dancers would not only drift in and out of sync with each other (when all three held vertical poses), but also with the dancers in the video – a wonderfully creative touch.
I really enjoyed Bekitzor; though bite-sized in length, it felt like a perfectly weighted morsel. It was hard to fault any of the dancers, but Jill Crovisier (from Luxembourg – I think!) not only stood out, but was also exceedingly sweet as we chatted on the way out. So – nice people, great dance, fantastic support from the audience… these things make me happy.
(33) Bekitzor: Wonderfully creative contemporary dance (in quirky venue) that doesn't outstay its welcome. Ms .LU great. #ff2014 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) February 20, 2014