Dance Ambassador Ophelia Onyeukwu

Hush by De Dansers

Dance piece, acrobatics show, concert or poetry slam?

Starting with a glaring, clear tone and ending with a tender, melancholic tone in the dark, the breathtaking play ‘Hush’ by De Dansers filled the stage of the Theater Strahls.

You can't judge if it was a dance piece, an acrobatics show, a concert or a poetry slam, because it was everything. The six dancers intertwined dance, acrobatics music and language with fluid transitions. A continuous flow of movement permeated the piece, with gestures that were sometimes tender, as well as angular and structured.

The transitions within the different dance qualities made the piece lively and captivating at the same time. The sounds also played an important role: The tones of the piano and drums accompanied almost the whole show and partly accompanied saxophone solos or vocals. But not only the drums gave the performance the beat, also the bodies of the dancers with their movements themselves. On the one hand the clapping on one's own body, on the other hand the synchronous, stung movements to the music. In addition, the intense breath of the six dancers filled the silent moments between the loud ones.

Every moment of the performance was rehearsed to the smallest detail and consciously considered. Be it the elegant to-ground throwing, the back-on-helping or the complex jumps that gave the piece a weightlessness. Every movement and every sound followed the following and at the same time seemed like improvisation. While words named subjects such as water, love and strife, the duo struggled with love and tenderness, accompanied by babbling water sounds. The duo represented an extreme change between fight and love, which drew the spectators into the action. Just like the clear, strong choreo of a quartet, with its repetitive, memorable movements.

The intense piece ended with commonality and tenderness, followed by an impressive duo, accompanied by singing, until only the tender, melancholic tone ended in the darkness.