Surprising, amusing, frequently physically impressive, occasionally frustrating – Fauna is a not quite circus, almost dance and nearly theatre. Such a cross-genre mix has been a feature of the London international mime festival since it launched in 1977. One of the few forms seldom seen there is the sort of white-faced, body-stockinged, silent gestural movement – often associated with Marcel Marceau – that, for a time, seemed to epitomise the work “mime”. This year’s festival, which has just launched (and runs until 3 February), includes 16 productions (some plan to tour). They feature, variously, juggling, dance, masks, mechanical objects, recalcitrant objects, aerialists, film, magic and, even, words. Themes range from “challenging” explorations of post-traumatic stress (A Brave Face, touring until 30 May) to feelgood fantasies fit for children as well as adults (Bêtes de foire).
Fauna is family-friendly. Across the initially empty space, whistles like bird calls evoke a tropical forest (the action is accompanied throughout by music created by the Australian percussive guitarist Geordie Little). On this stage, bare of everything but a trapeze and a small copse of canes (sticks topped with blocks of wood the area of the palm of a hand), five young circus performers create a world inspired by the movements of spiders, lemurs, tree frogs, birds of paradise, etc. Rather than directly imitating these animal models, the performers amalgamate their shapes and distil their qualities – inquisitiveness, combativeness, tactility – into a series of vignettes and encounters.
Rhiannon and Daniel Cave-Walker attract and repel one another through springs, throws, jumps and intertwinings; Imogen Huzel hand-balances, bird-like, on the canes; Matt Pasquet’s frog- and reptile-suggesting sequences at times extend towards self-indulgence. Engaging overall (and, generally, technically accomplished) the work does not quite feel fully formed. The distancing from the animal models leads into abstraction that needs to be more sharply shaped and dynamically developed. For me, Enni-Maria Lymi on the trapeze most successfully creates a playful, intriguing presence, while still avoiding anecdotal anthropomorphism.
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