MOS – Barbican, London

Choreographer: Ioanna Paraskevopoulou

Smashed, repeated, caressed, slammed – two performers take to the stage to co-exist with objects and produce noises that act as their organic soundtrack. The UK premiere of Ioanna Paraskevopoulou’s MOS, as part of Dance Umbrella’s festival, is an incredibly unique, exciting and, at times, profoundly moving triumph that blends, dance, crafted sound design and moving image.

The paraphernalia of Foley artistry – a variety of shoes, a box of crunchy leaves, gravel, wooden boards and more – is strewn across the space of the Barbican’s Pit Theatre. This is where Athens-based choreographer Ioanna Paraskevopoulou and her creative partner Georgios Kotsifakis flit and fly across the stage in a stunning and intricate duet.

Using a technique usually confined to filmmaking, the creative duo uses the choreography and props to create their own sound production, live, in perfect timing with videos displayed on a screen at the back of the stage. Split coconuts, heavy shoes on dirt and other items replace horses running through fields, a thrilling on-foot chase, a stroll through the woods. Later in the show, the videos are played behind the seats, a thrilling and effective way of directing the audience’s attention to the performers’ faces, upturned in concentration and enjoyment of the playful movement and sound creation.

Eventually, the moving image element of the piece slips away, and the duo start creating sounds for each other. A video of a running stream, recreated through dripping water over Paraskevopoulou’s hair, becomes a playful tit-for-tat between her and Kotsifakis as he creates the sounds for her movements, and vice-versa.

The production’s climax builds into an incredibly physical, complex and repetitive tap dance. The performers layer poly rhythms created by looping the recording of their stamps and taps on wooden boards. The sheer weight of the sound and complexity of the rhythms is an incredibly powerful experience. Each repetition brings something new from the performers; every motion, moment, fragment is considered and purposeful and adds to the profound holistic experience being created. The dance comes to a sudden halt, and the performers press microphones to each other’s chest, amplifying their fluttering heart rates to the spellbound audience, mirroring the intense thrumming beat they had just created with their dance. A perfect summary of their organic relationship and utter harmony.

In a production so concerned with sound, the silence is even deeper and is used to its fullest extent for captivating moments of intimacy and emotion. It’s a testament to Paraskevopoulou and Kotsifakis’s seamless partnership that they stay utterly in time both rhythmically and emotionally.

Credit must be given to Danis Chatzivasilakis for the seamless interweaving of live sound design. Indeed, multi-media elements are entwined excellently into the dance, from simple effective lighting choices to short punchy dialogue displayed on a screen intermittently throughout the piece: all technical elements succeed in adding and never distracting.

In short, MOS succeeds in being a fascinating, intimate, and moving experiment in sound design and dance. Ioanna Paraskevopoulou’s masterful creation is sure to be one of Dance Umbrella’s stand-out performances of the festival.

Runs until 14 October 2023

Dance Umbrella Festival runs until 31 October 2023