S I C K is a short dance film about dealing with depression and mental instability. Taira Foo is the creator, choreographer and director of this piece, performed by her TF Dance Co.
With music by Joshua Pacey and Oliver Lodge, and Hiatus, and an industrial setting designed by Daniel Lovell, Foo’s vision is about an intrusion of the mind who is always there, casting a shadow and burden over life.
Physical bonds emphasise these feelings of darkness, doubt and loneliness. Matthew Brion is the main dancer here, supported by Asher Norridge, Anna Watkins, Laura Gibson, Lauren McGuire, Effie McGuire Ward, and Joshua León.
Monents are slowed down or presented in blurred or extreme close-up, offering an uneasy feeling. Textures and touch suggest a range of feelings and connections.
The duets between Brion and Norridge are as poignant as they are physical, with the chairs bizarrely placed up the walls offering a dynamic suggestion of the state of mind of the subject.
As other characters interact with Brion in the space, we are included in suggestions as to why his depression has grown, and what has been lost. Anna Watkins, in a vibrant orange skirt, is the spirit of lost love, their duet warm yet desperate.
Together, these dancers offer a memory of great closeness and intimacy, the kind that overwhelms then shatters abruptly, leaving grief and chaos.
Eventually, the whole company come together through the young man’s mind, crowding and cramping his personal space and ability to think. Will the ‘intruder’ achieve the upper hand?
This is a remarkable short film which stands on its own emotional power and empathetic urgency while showing great potential as a live stage work. I wait with interest what Foo does with S I C K in the future.
3.5 stars.
S I C K was part of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe on C Arts Digital.
For more on Taira Foo, check her website.