reta Gauhe
Choreographer, Dancer, Producer, Researcher
Common Ground
performed at the place theatre, 2019
Choreographer: Greta Gauhe
Dancers: Ciara Lynch, Irene Gimenez, Marta Stepien, Marta Polak, Greta Gauhe, David Evans
Composer: Michael Clulow
Musicians: Harry Mak, Eleonore Smyth-Rysser, Magdalena Joyce
In Common Ground, seven dancers attempt to build a community which celebrates diversity, equally valuing every individual. The overarching aim is to accommodate idiosyncrasies, but this creates friction. Meeting in their effort to interact and connect, they negotiate boundaries, accept differences and declare togetherness as a common, mutual decision. Group form, merge and dissolve whilst the dancers break social norms and create a common identity.
Reviews:
"Follow Through Collective’s Common Ground, for six dancers and four musicians, is permeated with a sense of playful idealism and a Tanztheater aesthetic that encompasses a spectrum of tonal shifts from abstraction to confessional spoken word, from full-bodied ensemble jolliness to the disorientating discomfort of physical exchanges. A dancer picks her way across a patch of astro-turf, gazing admiringly at her cursively pointed feet, but an almost tender intermingling with another figure soon sours into a grasping bout of foot fetishism. A lilting waltz for a man and woman in a long floral dress (very Pina) becomes a spirited game of identity for all performers. It’s the most coherent and technically confident piece of the evening – choreographer Greta Gauhe is one to watch."
Anna Winter
"As the title infers, there is a distinct sense of togetherness and comradery in the playful piece Common Ground. The aural accompaniment, produced by an on-stage orchestral quartet floods the auditorium with angelic symphonies. The musicians interact with the sextet of dancers heightening the prevailing sense of unity within the work. We witness a picture book of all their individual stories running synchronously as the work eloquently flicks from one eccentric conversation to the next. Choreographically, Common Ground was the most technically detailed work of the night. Fusing game, spoken word and song, the piece toys with the audience and elicits a light-hearted, comedic and inclusive atmosphere."
Sophie Chinner
Pictures by Hannah Adams