Quirky, witty,
zany, eccentric, nutty and totally off the wall. (Review by Keith Millar)
To borrow a quote
from Monty Python – “And now for something completely different”. That
perfectly sums up the performance by the Japanese, all male dance troupe, the Condors, who appeared in Durban this
week for two performances at the Catalina Theatre.
They are quirky,
witty, zany, eccentric, nutty and totally off the wall. A lot of words to
describe a dance troupe, but that is because in many ways they defy description
or categorisation. They call themselves a dance troupe. But in addition to their
serious contemporary dance (although I am not sure anything this group does is
really serious), they offer a variety of acts including comedy skits,
storytelling, puppetry and video projections. Each segment of their show is
uniquely different and splendidly performed.
What is more, far
from being a young, athletic and perfectly synchronised dance troupe, they are
in fact a group of mostly middle-age men of every shape and size. There is one
member who can’t be more than 150 centimetres tall and another who would
certainly have to do his shopping for clothes in the XXXL section of the store.
To make things a little more bizarre, their trademark dress is Japanese boy’s
school uniforms.
However, that is
not to say that they deliver anything short of a high energy, flat out and highly
skilled performance. Dancing to loud retro rock music they give it their all
and, despite Durban’s stifling humidity, they leave nothing in the tank.
The skits, stories
and video projections are irreverent, absurd and very funny. They poke fun at
everything from Japanese pop culture to television game shows. They keep their
performance topical. A spoof video advertisement for an insurance company was
shot at Wilson’s Wharf itself, while a parody of a television programme which
used zany puppets to teach children the alphabet used examples such as J for
Johnny Cregg (Clegg),O for Oscar and L for Load-shedding.
The Condors which
has 14 members, was founded by dancer, choreographer and actor Ryohei Kondo
while he was at university in 1996. To this day the crux of the original group
remains together. They have a
cult following in Japan and their popularity overseas is ever increasing.
The troupe was brought to South Africa by acclaimed
Cape Town dancer, choreographer and teacher, Jacki Job, who worked in Japan for
nine years.
Their current tour
of South Africa is very brief. But this is a dance troupe to look out for if
you like your entertainment off-beat and uncomplicated and are ready to enjoy
“something completely different”. – Keith Millar
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