Pierre Rigal Review

Despite just a short 3-day run at the Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells, Pierre Rigal's performance merits a review

The show was fascinating and represents the limitless imagination and creativity of the world of dance.

Rigal's performance takes place in a box in the middle of the stage, initially measuring less than three and a half metres wide. As the box begins to shrink in size, primarily as the ceiling drops in dramatic leaps, the figure on stage begins to seem bigger and in turn more ominous.  Rigal's ability to manouevre within a very small space is key to the credibility of the set piece and is in apart due to his early career as a 400-metre runner and hurdler.  He studied mathematics before turning his skills to contemporary dance and this show makes good use of the all his skills as he adapts to the increasingly restrictive, self-imposed space.

The programme is thrilling, in part because the audience waits in anticipation for the ceiling to lower.  How will he be able to move within the box?  And how low will it go?

Curiously, Rigal uses his limited props - the chair and the light - to engage the audience in a dialogue with the inanimate 'characters'.  In particular, the light/oblique looking object starts to move on its own.  This is mirrored by the increasingly robotic movements of Rigal -  which makes us wonder whether he is human or robot.   As the two struggle for 'control' one interpretation is that this physical fight represents the prop (an inferior robot) - being overcome by a superior robot played by Rigal.

Rigal, of course triumphs, as he represents Man - but is he just another mechanical device or is he a human trapped in his own ever decreasing personal space?

Despite recognizing some of the tricks of the trade and the illusion of space on the stage, Rigal opens up a world of imagination versus reality by questioning whether we are all just humans trapped in our own imaginary box or just mankind believing that his freedom is more (or less ) reality than illusion.

A perfect metaphor for today's society.