NORTHUMBRIAN MUSIC
NIGHTS
What we said about
'Belted, Buckled &
Booted'
Belted, Buckled & Booted
Allendale Village Hall
A critic is only as good as their perceptions reflect reality, but perhaps one of their functions is to help interpret more difficult pieces for a bemused audience.
After all, if said critic has been involved in promoting a particular event, then they owe a certain debt of gratitude to the public who motivated themselves into the seats. And besides, I was asked to do some careful explaining, and having been privy to some of the accompanying promotional material describing the recent dramatic dance theatre production at Allendale Village Hall called Belted, Buckled and Booted, put on by the Debbi Purtill Dance Company, I will do my best.
But how do you interpret feelings? Perhaps there's no interpretation possible, in words, of our pre-natal experience, or indeed, of our pre-verbal thoughts. Yet dance, it seems, might express some of those feelings quite aptly, and certainly the first section of this thought-provoking presentation dealt with these naive feelings, and somehow made them more accessible to our inquisitive, verbal minds.
My own understanding is that the piece traced personal growth from the womb to final freedom. Along the way there was a great deal of attendant baggage to deal with. Starting with the extraordinarily acrobatic sense of wonder with one's suddenly freed limbs that young babies must experience. How well the four dancers of the company, Caroline Reece, Juliet Thompson and Leah Bruce, as well as Debbi Purtill, who choreographed this extraordinary odyssey, presented this awe at the powers suddenly granted the young life!
And then, against the sweetest young voice lisping 'The Lord is my Shepherd' in an Arabic dialect -- growth! Experience, physicality, effervescent life! Suddenly, we were all teenaged adolescents again, worrying about the hows of actually, well, kissing, as it turns out.
Against the joys of growth we suddenly confronted the horrible psychological mystique of adolescent angst. It was a credit to the company that they did not shy away from the reality which confronts many teenagers today, and as Caroline carried the limpet-like Debbi around the stage during an extended 'phone conversation, we realised we were sharing in the glimpse of despair's pit.
Perhaps it was entirely appropriate that the stage lights suddenly winked out, at this point. But the technical glitch was ample evidence of the crucial need for immediate electrical attention, to which Allendale's Village Hall committee is presciently seeing. After the break, with a repaired set of spots, we began to experience the joys and trauma of love.
At least I think that's what it was -- after all, I am only as good a critic as my own feelings, understandings and perceptions. But it did seem that the domestic tranquility introduced by the silver Roger Dickinson heart, cleverly sculpted with a cute dangling tea spout, could also be a ball and chain, conspiring to engender such traumas as obsession-compulsion syndrome. How we longed for Caroline's frantic, stratospheric leaps with her dust cloth to end! How we sighed collectively when Debbi carefully took her by the shoulders and gently removed the cloth.
Against the compulsion, the joyous ravages of (?illicit) passion were aptly portrayed by Leah grappling with a pair of hands across the black dance floor. This production, mingling multi-media aspects of sculpture, music, dramatic monologues, and beautiful bodies, engaged in what was, after all, a reasonably accessible celebration of the totality of human-ness.
Frankly, I mis-interpreted the last number, as I discovered in careful quizzing of the dancers after the show. I'd thought it was all about accommodation with the sort of daily grind, the regular job, which all humans seem destined to grow into, but it was apparently meant to be about liberation, freedom, and perhaps a discovery of meaning. Maybe it depended on your perspective, and on your job!
Whatever the interpretation, all agreed that this was superb quality dance theatre, compelling personal considerations of a physical reality rarely seen in such intimate spaces, and all concerned were immensely grateful to North Pennine Highlights, the kind regional arts touring organisers, who brought the show to Allendale and within reach of the community's young dancers.
