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Charles Linehan Company

'Grand Junction', 'Disintegration Loops'

by Petra Tschiene

October 13 2003, The Place, Robin Howard Theatre, London

This year Charles Linehan’s contribution to Dance Umbrella consisted of a double bill, the intense duet ‘Grand Junction’ commissioned by Dance Umbrella in 2002 and the new ‘ Disintegration Loops’ co-commissioned by Dance Umbrella and Danspace New York.

‘Grand Junction’ explores the shifting psychology and terrain of the relationship between the two performers Andreja Rauch and Greig Cooke. In the beginning they just co-exist, each of them keeping to their own part of the performance space, her movements being more restraint and linear while his are wide and his arms take possession of the space around him. It takes a while before Andreja even steals a glance at him. When they finally make contact they engage in a complex movement dialogue with parts of their bodies touching on occasion. Their attempts at communication are not always successful but the intensity of their relationship increases as the work progresses. Bathed in the white lighting designed by Mikki Kunttu I found this piece so engaging that I was genuinely surprised at its sudden end.

The evening’s second offering ‘Disintegration Loops’ has a different feel right from
the outset. Performed on a wooden floor and with softer yellowish warm lightning
it consists of a serious of solos, duos and trios. The four performers are never all on stage at the same time. Charles Linehan has developed his own movement language with wide spiralling arm movements and using the floor to great affect with half turns and postures on the knees. I liked the central romantic but powerful duet between Rahel Vonmoos and Ben Ash best. A soft white mist of light in the background enhanced its tranquil, dreamy quality.

In a short post performance talk Charles Linehan confirmed that he was most interested in exploring the relationship between music, light and movement. Considering the successful results on display tonight I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

Edited by Stuart Sweeney

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