TEMPEST: Without a Body (2008)

Choreographer: Lemi Punifasio

An intense show from start to end, there were many unforgettable scenes.
The show starts with an abrupt explosion of sound – throwing the audience’s adrenaline and emotions into turmoil. It was like a tornado had hit the building – in fact, I actually thought the stage had exploded.
The sound and lighting throughout the show was eerie and evocative. I had never in my life been terrified and shocked to this level of intensity. Some people to the right of me left the venue about 15 minutes in, and did not return.
The space onstage was used sparsely, I could tell much thought had gone into the placement of elements (I speak of elements… the shapes and actions the performers created made them seem inhuman).

Scenes:
There were four scenes that really wowed me. I will give a description of them now.

Solo with Angel:
Moving ever so slowly, the angel crept around the stage – hunched over, seemingly without a purpose; without direction. There was a deafening silence that clung to the air.
With painstaking deliberation, the angel lifted its head and eyes. The eyes met the audience’s space. Forever seemed to unfold and then all of a sudden the angel let loose the most bone-freezing, unearthly scream. One could see the front five rows actually throw themselves back, stunned. It was like witnessing a shockwave hit the audience.

Liquid Human:
An exposed dancer wriggles backwards like a caterpillar or a worm. It appeared as though his muscles were liquid. The muscles rippled like waves.
Enter angel, screaming at irregular intervals. The angel is not happy. There is an enormous textured panel that hangs to the left of the stage. A deep red blood-like substance gradually stains the panel with light. The blood is wispy and layered. I think was a projection of blood moving around in a glass of thick, clear liquid.
The angel stops screaming. Violently, the liquid human writhes and seizes its way back along the bench – halting as it hung off the end of the bench, lifeless.
This reminded me how fish writhe and squirm when removed from their natural habitat. The scene was highly disturbing, yet captivating. I was intrigued and inspired.

Human animal:
This scene depicts a dancer shifting around the stage much like a deer or similar 4-legged creature. It reminded me a lot of the Tool music video Schism where two contortionists interact with each other on all fours. The dancer even swung his head to and fro as it walked.
The thing that disturbed me the most about the pacing movement was the way the dancer would bulge his lower back in and out – like a hump. Initially I thought it must have been a prosthetic attachment with animatronics inside. However, my eyes adjusted and revealed the truth to me.
I never thought humans were capable of such unusual movement. It was bizarre.

Smash:
Another dancer enters the stage, wielding a large plaster plaque. The dancer lifted it above his head, as if it was an offering to a higher being. Abruptly, the dancer brought it down upon his head. Smashed into a powder, the dancer was obscured by a cloud of white powder.
Then dancers began rushing in – hurling pieces of plaster on the ground around the dancer.