We’re two minutes in and already those of us sitting down are exhausted. There are five dancers on stage, in PE gear, jogging from side to side in a kind of formation aerobics warm-up. They look bright and knowing, with perky smiles and the odd arched eyebrow. In 50 minutes, it will be a different story.
This show from Denmark’s Himherandit Productions starts like a HIIT class, morphs into a 1930s dance marathon, via the Rite of Spring, and ends up a bacchanale. The concept brings a crescendo of energy, releasing endorphins into the room. Constant repetitive motion leading to elation and exhaustion, with panting breath and rising colour, the brilliant human body on display. It’s quite the ode to being alive.
From jigging on the spot to running in circles to more complex patterns and counts, the audience is on board with the performers’ attempts to nail the rhythms and sequences together. There is pleasure in seeing repeated patterns our brains can hook into, and massive satisfaction in watching people move exactly in unison – whether military drills or synchronised swimming or a bunch of Danish dancers in a tightly packed hall in Edinburgh.
The science says that moving in synchrony with others creates social bonds – it’s called self-other blurring. But something happens when you watch it, too. And maybe something happens physiologically with the accumulation of all that kinetic energy in the room. Instead of feeling tired any more, I want to go for a run.
As the dancers’ hair starts sticking to their damp skin and layers are stripped off, movements become looser, limbs thrown up in the air again and again, still in strict time with the pulse, and another 10 dancers stream on to the stage, upping the ante and the energy thrust out into the room. The original quintet have all got their kit off by now, stripped of lycra but also artifice and pretence. We’ve been through something together, and the mass effect is invigorating.
At Summerhall, Edinburgh, until 26 August
