Apricity

I'm going to break the cardinal rule of reviewing and admit that I am not a dance or gymnastic aficionado. That's not to say I can't appreciate it at all, but it's not something I typically choose to watch, I don't know the different terms, and I don't really see how movement can be representative of grand ideas and concepts. I guess you could call me a bit of a dance luddite.

I feel it's important to express this at the outset, because the edfringe.com website description for Apricity might feel like a challenging sell for those similarly lacking in dance familiarity:

“Inspired by the image of winter sun breaking through the cold [Apricity] probes the transformative power of human connection.”

I'm afraid I lack the knowledge to tell you whether or not it's successful in that endeavour. BUT I can tell you, from a layman's perspective, this is one hell of a show. The sheer physicality on display, through a range of dance and gymnastic disciplines including aerial apparatuses and hoop, was incredible. It is not an understatement to say that the performers were literally climbing on and up each other, and the smaller members of the troupe were being thrown around the beautiful stage of Assembly’s Palais du Variété.

The crowd were in awe, with audible gasps, whoops and cheers as the five moved around – and above – the space. It really was a sight to behold. The creative use of light, sound and music only added to the experience – and it’s always a delight to hear the underappreciated Labi Siffre.

It certainly wasn't a perfect performance, however. Movements that felt they should have been synchronised were out of time, there were the occasional fumbles or messy transitions. But it's hard to hold that against the performers considering the insane feats of human athleticism they were exhibiting, it was truly breathtaking at points.

All of this is just a long way of saying that Apricity is definitely worthy of your attention, whether you typically appreciate dance or not. I'm most certainly not your typical dance enthusiast, and I had a bloody good time, so I feel sure you will too.