Quite possibly one of the strangest dance performances I’ve seen in a while dance3 tonight is part of a series of performances showcasing up and coming choreographers. Just imagine letting your, well imagination, running crazy without censure and that is pretty much what we got tonight. Sometimes dance is just as baffling as art! and if I’m honest I didn’t always get what was going on tonight at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

dance3 featured three performances. First up on the bill was Tom Dale’s Cabin Fever. A single man writhed and wiggled about on stage. Expressing the state of mind he was both elegant and plain odd. For some reason I could think only of a zombie though he didn’t move with the gracelessness you normally associate with the living dead. Perhaps my impression was influenced by the Surviving a Zombie Attack book I’ve been reading lately.

Second up was Passing Strange and Wonderful. Interestingly there was no accompanying music or soundtrack to this performance. It was like watching a conversation between two friends or lovers as represented by the physical as the couple on stage moved and eased they way around and away from each other. The lighting in this was particularly smart which I think was important in the absence of the engagement of other senses like our hearing.

The finale was left up to Claire Cunningham and José Agudo’s 4M2. How to describe this piece – they used the LCD screen, the spoken word both on a soundtrack and from the performers themselves, and a number of pauses, including one for around about 5 minutes where both the audience and the performers simply stared at the screen. Of the three performances this was definitely the most energetic and engaging, despite the long pauses. Like Passing Strange and Wonderful this involved two performers dancing along and with each other.

You’ve probably realised that despite the three paragraphs above I haven’t really described what went on stage. That’s because I found it quite inexplicable – this is the kind of show that needs to be experienced in person. Its a great example of contemporary dance.

You have to admire how the performers left themselves totally vulnerable to the judgment of the audience and for that at least they deserve our respect, even if I didn’t always understand what was going on!