(Gabriel Masango &
Helena Noll)
(Reviews from the artSMart team at the 2015 National Arts
Festival in Grahamstown)
Cleverly titled fast-moving work well presented. (Review by
Caroline Smart)
The festival programme notes read: “We are all spiders ...
nothing is beyond our reach. We dance this web of conscious creation, weavers
of dreams in this community.”
Presented by Dance Direction International & Young /star
Production from Durban, Arach-No-Phobia
is choreographed by Des van der Spuy assisted by Gabriel Masango. It is a cleverly-titled
fast-moving - and at times, frenetic - work and features Gabriel Masango and
Helena Noll supported by a disciplined company of dancers.
From a smoky dramatic opening filled with night sounds, we
are taken into the world of spiders and their fascinating sinuous movements. Slinky
sidesteps or scuttling frenzy, this requires much suppleness from the dancers
who are effectively dressed in patterned leotards.
Masango and Helena represent male and female spiders and
their interaction ranges from the stormy to the passionate. The Black Widow
spider eats her mate after mating, but this male is reborn and rejoices at the
birth of his offspring.
Arach-No-Phobia’s appearance
on the 2015 National Arts Festival was supported by the Libraries and Heritage
Department of eThekwini Municipality. – Caroline Smart
(For more information on the National Arts Festival click
on the banner advert at the top of this page or visit www.nationalartsfestival.co.za)
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