![]() The cast of performers appear through and around each others’ acts, with slight costume shifts for every visit they are the souls caught in this limbo life. Hand-balance from Danik Abishev IMAGE: Lisa ThomsonĪn uninspired rigging transition is brightened by a thwarted sexual encounter between Allard and Nosan, as they try to strip endless layers of underwear. He connects strongly with the audience, confident in his extreme ability to thrill with daring, twisting angles and jumps as the controlling figure of Shirey demands more and more, Abishev continues to astound, traversing the 5 poles on just one hand. In a cage made from beams of light, Danik Abishev is a master of his art, hand-balancing across 5 poles at head height, with his wrists and ankles chained. The infectious rhythms are particularly exciting when Evelyne Allard adds a spin or two on the bolas. The office suit Nosan wears highlights the unearthliness of his back bending contortion, which is at its most uncanny when he lies on his front, bending his leg over towards his mouth so he can stroke, kiss and whisper sweet nothings to his foot.ĭespite the intimate cabaret setting, I’m not convinced that we as audience are fully present to the performers until Hilton Denis burns up the stage with his spirited tap dancing, radiating warmth and enthusiasm. All I get is possibly an obscure reference to Circa’s production Beyond, which also appeared in the London Wonderground Spiegeltent last year?) Jonathan Nosan’s contortion IMAGE: Lisa ThomsonĪ teasing moment of a feather balance becomes obsolete as the performers whisk away from the stage, leaving Jonathan Nosan at Shirey’s mercy. (The bunny head doesn’t feature again until the final moments of the show, and seems to have nothing to do with anything. There is a sense of the 1930’s here in the fairground wardrobe. Under the hazy Spiegeltent’s red and white striped canvas ceiling, firefly fairy lights dangle in glass bulbs, and the circus artists sashay onto the tiny round stage to join the band (as fully committed as any clown orchestra). In a white suit sprouting angelic feathers, but with a rock star’s devil-may-care attitude, he is apparently the controlling force that causes the performers around him to contort, climb, fall and spin, manipulating them with a whistle, a flick of the wrist, or an eerily resonant breath. I’d rather the acts were clearly developed towards a unified theme or not at all.īand leader Sxip Shirey is the non-speaking ring-master, who is nonetheless both vocal and eloquent through the array of sound making devices that mark his unique live soundscape composition. But the show makes me work hard to ‘get it’. Where the show doesn’t quite live up to its hype, for me, is in the metaphor that loosely links the evenings’ acts my interpretation is that our lives are the constant dance between heaven and hell that leaves us neither one place nor the other. So my expectations were high, and I was rewarded with some divine technical skills, gorgeous lighting effects, and genius ‘jank’ sounds. ![]() ![]() (And yes, that includes Cirque Du Soleil). ![]() Returning for it’s second season at London Wonderground, I’ve seen more PR for LIMBO than for any other circus show in my UK experience to date. 15th May 2014 Mikael Bres, Hilton Denis and Danik Abishev in LIMBO IMAGE: PUMPphotography ![]() London Wonderground Spiegeltent, SouthBank Centre. ![]()
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