Dance artists Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu may live on opposite sides of the planet, but that certainly wasn’t going to stop them from creating art together. Their unique piece, Deciphers, engages with the idea of communication and miscommunication. Each of them brings their own individual perspectives and experiences to create this experience.
The design of this show was simple, but that simplicity allows the audience to focus on the performers while also allowing a great deal of creativity to be used. Ivy Wang’s visual design combined with Lucie Bazzo’s lighting design is a beautiful companion to the choreography. I particularly enjoy the way the foot lights are used to create multi-coloured shadows of the dancers; it had a very retro vibe to it which I really liked.
Photo by Maya Yoncali
Deciphers is billed as being a combination of dance and spoken-word poetry, which intrigued me; however I found that it was far more dance than it was poetry (though dance is arguably its own form of poetry). While I certainly appreciated and understood why the poetry was primarily in the ancestral tongues of the artists and the choice to not give the audience surtitles, I wish that this would have comprised a bit more of the performance. The feeling of alienation it brought fit perfectly within the ethos of the piece, and it could have been done maybe at another point throughout the work to help drive home the point.
Photo by Maya Yoncali
Wang and Abreu give impressive performances. Their athleticism and stamina allow for the fluidity and precision control of some of the slower choreography. To not stop moving for the entire fifty to sixty minutes of the performance is remarkable to say the least. You can feel their passion for their art coming through in every element of the production.
Photo provided by the artists
My only concern with this piece is that I didn’t really feel like there was a story line to it: no clear beginning, middle, and end. While I understand that not every dance piece is going to have that, they seemed to be starting a story at the beginning of the work, but I never truly felt like I understood it fully. Maybe if the audience could have been shown what was on the plastic sheet they’re writing on at the beginning, we might have been able to understand what was causing the separation and coming together which occurred throughout the performance.
Deciphers is sure to delight fans of contemporary dance. The artistry involved in putting together a work like this is worth the admiration in and of itself. This show only runs until February 10th so make sure you grab your tickets ASAP. For more information and tickets, visit: https://harbourfrontcentre.com/event/deciphers/
Cover photo of Naishi Wang and Jean Abreu by Maya Yoncali
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