Double Bill - Girls' Dreams & I Will Try

Star Rating: 4/5



Double Bill - Girls' Dreams & I Will Try - Dublin Dance Festival 2012 - Project Arts Centre.

Review by: Declan Ferry

Alexander Andriyashkin steps onto the floor and performs a short dance phase in front of his expectant audience. He then turns to them and asks: "What's missing from this dance?" Music, comes the response, prompting the Russian performer to go through the phase once more, this time with some accompaniment.

Again, he asks what's missing, and as more elements are added - costume change, a girl from the audience, mood lighting - the dance becomes more complex and more complete. But Andriyashkin doesn't stop there - in I Will Try he expects his audience to put in some effort too, a device which can lead to some very awkward silences. He wants to engage with those enjoying his show, but his intense interaction can also leave one feeling uneasy and a bit uncomfortable. The sense that he felt we were an inadequate audience was also never far away.

Despite that, there were also plenty of light-hearted moments and laughter in this 50 minute performance. The audience interaction was at its best when he urged some members to join him on stage and become part of the show. The second part of this double bill was Girls' Dreams, performed by Latvian Dmitrijs Gaitjukevich. This was a colourful, at times hilarious, antidote to some of the more demanding requests of Andriyashkin before him.

He begins with a warm-up routine, from star jumps to squats, designed to show off his impressive physique - the show is called Girls' Dreams, after all. Then the audience is asked to stand to their feet to take part in a magic trick. Throughout, Gaitjukevich keeps the laughs coming, under a few different guises, from the gym junkie we first meet, to a knight, and then onto a boxer, complete with Rocky soundtrack.

He ends with a journey through song and dance, bringing together the Spice Girls, techno club classics and blues in a colourful montage. Before leaving the stage he reveals the secret to all his dreams coming true - the contents of his suitcase which has been sitting atop a table throughout. He asks the audience to investigate for themselves before leaving the room, saving perhaps his best laugh for last.

Story by EI Team | 09:00 | Monday 21st May 2012 | Theatre

354

Comments

• No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!

Log in to leave a comment

Login or register to leave a comment

Enter your email:

Enter Password: Lost Your Password?