Vital Organs Collective
Vital Organs Collective @ The Birdcage
5:30pm, Sat 13 Mar 2010
A fun – but useless – fact: Vital Organs Collective were responsible for the sixth-to-last show I saw in 2009, and the fifth-to-last show of 2010. I loved Pie Charts & Panties, so when I saw Vital Organs Collective’s name in the 2010 Guide, I had pencilled them in straight away (for my birthday, no less).
Alas, Thirsty Events (where Le Rox used to be – showing my age, there) seemed to disappear without a trace; but Vital Organs managed to scrounge together some times over at The Birdcage, including this early-evening show… their last before returning home to Melbourne.
And it’s somewhat similar in structure to their previous outing: a series of six short pieces, separated by some short, occasionally physical vignettes, allowing performers to catch their breath and prepare for the next longer piece. The performances themselves are a wonderful hybrid of dance and circus-style skills; a curious balance of elegance and brute strength. And that works remarkably well, with the option to either gape at the lifts and holds, or remain mesmerised by the synched twirls and kicks.
With the six performers (three women and three men, two of whom constituted the group-within-a-group of The Lost Rung) were clad in black, with splashes of red on the female ankles and male waists. Creative choreography and great music really helped amp up the excitement throughout the performance, and the last two pieces – Cubic and Velocipede – were a whirlwind of rolls and flung limbs.
Sure, there were a few issues – some of the interludes staggered along, rather than smoothly transitioned, and sometimes the planned bouncing and leaping seemed a little too much for the performer’s limbs to be actually able to manage – but the Vital Organs Collective managed to bring physical and exciting dance to the table. On the strength of that alone, they’ll remain on The Shortlist for years to come.