© Darren Ellis 'traces' in Ramin reviews Tanja Raman reviews 'Sticks and Bones' reviews Darren Ellis eviews 'A Mind As Beautiful' reviews Douglas Thorpe eviews more Azulynn reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

(Re)traces is digital dance - two techies sit on the sides of the stage, surrounded by wires, controlling the performance via their Macs. The sole dancer and choreographer, Tanja Råman, looks like the subject of an experiment, with two tiny lamps on her hands and one attached to her leg. She performs a dance sequence, and the accumulated traces of the moving lights appear as a form of ghostly landscape on the screen separating us from her - the traces come and go as she starts again, soon joined by a list of words: rewind, revisit, remember... The point is hardly novel, but its digital realization offers beautiful images of Råman standing still behind a screen filled with words and memories, as well as suddenly repeating entire sequences backwards, as if looking for answers. Sadly, the choreography itself seems to recede into the background and let the technology take over - Råman's response to the blurred patterns the lights draw remains muted and her dancing linear, perhaps voluntarily, but the work could explore new territories with a more nuanced relationship between dancer and screen. As it is, (Re)traces ends with three photographs of childhood appearing on the screen, a nostalgic touch to the journey.

Darren Ellis's Sticks and Bones, on the contrary, is a true one-man-show. Choreographed, danced, composed and designed by Darren Ellis, it is one of those pieces in which the personality of the performer happily overpowers all the other elements. Boy meets drumsticks, domesticates them, but will the drumsticks take control? They first appear in the dark, like two little flames controlled by Ellis. When the lights go up, an absurd, delightful play starts - the hero first puts on a drummer jacket, slowly, which spurs a frenzy of air drumming. He then sits down to learn how to use the drumsticks to a very polite tape. The sheer precision of Ellis's movements make these bits of dance theatre stand out, and Sticks and Bones seamlessly blends them with sequences inspired by the marching rhythm of drums. An orchestra seems to assemble in the background, following his feverish lead, until the relentless beat finally drives him to a mock death. An absorbing piece, with only the danced moments lacking in development.

As a regular dance-goer, I dread pieces about schizophrenia. The subject seems to endlessly fascinate dance makers, perhaps because it is an easy justification for frantic, angst-ridden choreography. Douglas Thorpe avoids some of the usual pitfalls in A Mind As Beautiful, a 25-minute work to a score ranging from pop to classical music. Most importantly, he brings out a raw honesty in his four dancers (Tiziana Fracchiolla, Maria Olga Pallini, Shahla Tarrant & Philine Janssens), who look impeccably rehearsed and give it their all. Touching duos result, where tenderness looms under the lonely, violent surface but communication remains impossible. The dancers' minute reactions and exploding energy, whether they are throwing themselves at the floor or going maniac on a couch, gives the impression that their bodies are trying to surprise the enemy within. The choreography doesn't go much further, possibly held back by its theme, and the few angry sentences we are treated to in French are a low point, but commitment is still obvious in every detail. And with 29 venues for this year's Dance3 tour, the National Dance Network will probably afford dedicated choreographers a chance to develop fast.