Luca Silvestrini’s Protein: Border Tales is not your typical dance performance. It has scenes with dialogue and involves a bit of audience participation. This is what makes it unique — whether you regularly attend dance performances or not, there’s a little something for everyone.
The digital performance was originally performed in 2013 and recorded in 2017, and has been revived as a part of the award-winning company’s Protein 21 Remix Series — a celebration of their twenty-first anniversary. It was available from Thursday 7th May until Friday 7th May, so if you missed it, you’ve missed it! However, hopefully they will resurrect it as it’s an interesting and relevant piece.
Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit is still a fresh wound. Border Tales is a response to that dark time. With dance, live music, and dialogue, the multicultural cast (consisting of Eryck Brahmania, Temitope Ajose-Cutting, Andrew Gardiner, Kenny Wing Tao Ho, Anthar Kharana, Stephen Moynihan, and Yuyu Rau with musician Anthar Kharana) tells their own personal histories. Most of the scenes are hilarious and/or compelling, but a few fall short.
There is a scene where Kenny Wing Tao Ho asks Andrew Gardiner how he can be more like a man, and then corrects himself — a British man. He repeats this throughout the scene. Because of the repetition and the fact that his need to assimilate was so overt, it lost its effect. This was also the case for one of the scenes with Eryck Brahmania. During this scene, several of the performers pummel him with questions. Some are general, like, “What’s your favorite colour,” whilst others are offensive: “You sound British, but you don’t look British. Where are you from?” Whilst this is happening, Eryck Brahmania is moving as if each question is punching him or knocking him down. The metaphor is too conspicuous and thus, loses its impact. However, there are many other scenes that maintain their power.
Towards the beginning of the performance, there’s a scene where Brahmania and Gardiner are attempting to greet each other. Brahmania extends his hand to Gardiner in the hope that he will shake it, but Gardiner only bows in response. They continue this exchange, attempting to connect, but never quite doing so. This moment was extremely powerful for a few reasons. First, it was refreshing to see the brown character offer a Western greeting instead of a greeting that Western audiences would deem foreign. It was also a simple and beautiful representation of communication between cultures. Neither conforms to the other’s gestures, resulting in Gardiner becoming violent. Even immigrant, foreigner, or “other” can relate to this exchange.
Another powerful moment came after the scene between Gardiner and Moynihan. Gardiner rants about immigrants, which culminates in him saying that he is particularly annoyed that “they stick to their own kind.” Whilst this exchange between Gardiner and Moynihan has been taking place, Rau and Ho have been silently massaging the men. At the end of his rant, Gardiner turns to Rau and says, “There’s a lot of tension here,” pointing underneath his arm. This immediately elicited laughs from the audience. The irony was too good. Protein’s best work during this performance is when it’s subtle. And when moments work, they REALLY work.
Reviewer - Rebecca Tessier
on - 7/5/20
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