I was sitting in a chair looking up at a wall covered with white threads, when suddenly several people in their underwear emerged from the ceiling and climbed down it. Not a dream, but the first night of Acrobatic Conundrum’s newest show, Threads.
I love circus shows as much as the next person who loves to be surprised by quirky hijinks and the amazing flexibility and strength of the human body, but the Conundrum surprised me in ways I didn’t expect. Think ballet-trained modern dancers who decided to choreograph a circus show on a tight and highly integrated theme. As is apparently the case with all their shows, Threads keeps its audience on a short rope, but leads them into a variety of amazing spaces. The graceful interplay, evocative musical accompaniment, and poetic spoken word goes beyond a simple showcase of high-level rope play to an emotionally moving demonstration of the whole notion of human connection.
The show ramps up slowly, with the performers helping each other get dressed in the clothes (or “threads”) laid out on the floor, then doing a series of slow solo, duet, and trio poses and movement sections. Then things start to evolve. The audience is treated to a solo performer moving in, out and around a metal box suspended from the ceiling, with red threads winding around it. (You could call this piece “Ariadne’s Thread.”) The white thread-covered wall comes into play next, with the performers basically dancing on the walls holding onto the threads, like some kind of big-screen maypole. You wanted juggling? Rest assured that threads are included! Pins dangle from the ceiling on moving, swinging ropes, and are incorporated into duo juggling sequences.
Of course there is a tightrope act, but this time, with the tightrope walker reciting poetry that includes the words, “art is a prayer” and “tie me to you because we are star-crossed.” This part almost brought me to tears. Next, four thick ropes are suspended from the ceiling in such a way that the performers can jump up and down on them like bell ringers. Then things gradually start to wind down, with a simple hanging ring duo like a spinning human Spirograph, more play on the white thread wall, a three-person “totem pole” balance, a kind of group hug tangle, and finally a group climb back into the ceiling.
With the exception of a few dropped juggling pins, the energy of this show was smoother, more lyrical and more profound than any circus show I’ve ever seen, and in fact more than many dance performances I’ve seen — a tangled web I was delighted to be captured in.
Through November 8th. 12th Avenue Arts, 1620 12th Ave, Seattle. Tickets available from Ticketstripe. Special livestream November 2nd.
