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Unafraid to stop the dance for lengthy spoken meditations on the logic of relationships, and swapping partners with the liberalism of a sixties commune, the dancers are, by turns, both violent and sensuous. Playful teasing switches to brutal assaults, characters bounce and collide and explicit writhing gradually slides towards gentle intimacy. They work around the dangers and pleasures of passion, demonstrating how seduction and fighting are entwined in an alluring horror. Dot 504 reflect the European fascination with the boundaries of dance, frequently interspersing the action with conversation or lectures while taking real physical risks. Yet they never loose sight of their precision and quality of movement, making this an equal treat for the balletomanes and performance art crowd.

Dot 504's Holdin' Fast
© Dot 504

It is heady stuff, suggesting that love relationships are darker and harsher that we would like, and that the desperate desire for intimacy is constantly thwarted, perhaps by the parallel desire for social status. By the end, the dancers are crawling beneath carpets, as if trying to escape the audience to enacting their passions beyond our gaze. Holdin’ Fast is passionate and provocative, rich in both theatrical skill and emotional content.