Choreographer: Mufuatu Yusuf
A towering pile of luggage, with what looks like streaming African banners attached, sits on the open stage. To the rhythmic sound of indigenous drums and cymbals the colourful construct rises and proceeds to sway and sashay to the beat. It is as original an opening to a show as I have ever seen.
The cases suggest a journey. Though raised in Ireland, choreographer and performer, Mufuatu Yusuf, hails from Nigeria so we begin there. The lights dim and a crescendo of stormy music introduces Yusuf and Lucas Katangila. They face back towards the pale cyclorama, appearing to bid farewell to their homeland and contemplate their odyssey West. Yusuf leans into Katangila, clinging onto him. This and his nakedness infer vulnerability and fear.
We hear crackling like the crushing of bone and watch as the dancers slowly detach from each other to unfurl, stretch and writhe. Every muscle and sinew of Yusuf’s athletic physique is defined as he extends each part of himself with slow precision.
In a new reality, strains of Choral music by Bach and the sliding door of a confessional box trigger Yusuf’s Munch like silent screams and facial contortions. He tears away at his own visage. With an heroic show of strength, resilience and overcoming, the young men run and run. And run and run. Their stamina is extraordinary.
As an art form, dance is one of the most powerful ways to express oneself. With Impasse Yusuf attempts “to understand the politics of the Black body in a contemporary society” with emphasis on “the experience of the Black diaspora” using the only instrument available to him – his own body.
The result is a visually stunning piece of work. Yusuf and Katangila are outstanding. As is music composition and sound design by Tom Lane and Mick Donohoe. Their creation is, without doubt, the third character in the piece.
The Review's Hub Score
Raw and energetic!
