Stumbling in on a performance by French dance company Montalvo-Hervieu, you could be forgiven for thinking you are under the influence of some very strong psychedelic drug. Humans turn into flamingos, a flamenco trio segues into Queen's We Will Rock You. The effect is like channel surfing through 100 TV stations, each showing a different style of dance.
Breakdance collides with ballet in a scratch-edit of movement that makes the unlikeliest of connections seem plausible: maybe Vivaldi was a hip hop renegade master after all. That may sound gimmicky, and Montalvo-Hervieu's style is unashamedly crowd-pleasing; indeed, the accessible, engaging troupe has become one of France's most successful exports. But there is a method in the madness of the company's latest work, Le Jardin Io Io Ito Ito. It is a "happy eulogy to cosmopolitanism," according to choreographer José Montalvo, a man much given to lyrical flights of fancy about his work and inspired by the dance festivals of his childhood. "An amazing multi-colour tribe participated. At night, in the heart of drunkenness and the hide-and-seek of desire, the dancing and singing transformed everyone. Each individual became virtuosos for one moment."
Taking that as his starting point, Montalvo has assembled a line-up of 18 performers who are all expert in their varied fields. His trick is to throw acrobats and baroque stylists on stage together and exploit the flying sparks. It could turn out an unholy mess. But such is the company's exuberance that Montalvo succeeds in rolling back the years using dance as a metaphor for the innocence of youth. Most remarkable are the connections between apparently disparate forms. Using the kind of call-and-response interplay more readily associated with old soul records, dancers from contrasting styles bounce moves off each other as proof that dance is an international language.
Le Jardin Io Io Ito Ito's title is drawn from the curious collages of surrealist master Max Ernst, and his sense of deranged imagery is at play in the film sequences that are intercut with the dancers. Animals on screen compete in a curious posing contest with their human partners; balancing acts combine live and filmed performers. The result is a skewed take on the world that can throw in Wiseguys dance anthem Ooh La La La, US wrestling star Scotty Too Kool Taylor's trademark "worm" move (or maybe I was just seeing things) and a breakdancing Christmas tree, without pausing for breath. As Montalvo puts it: "It's a poetry of juxtaposition at the service of movement, desire, fantasy, dreams and childhood."
Le Jardin Io Io Ito Ito is at the Barbican, London EC2 (020-7638 8891), tonight.
