Do you love Vintage? If you do, what is it about it that you love? What in particular strikes that note of nostalgia? Two Peas Without a Pod by Levantes Dance Theatre really hit my ‘vintage’ chord: from matching floral sofa and curtains, to cling-film covered cucumber sandwiches. Two Peas without a Pod is an ‘instagram-atic’ kodak moment of days gone by.
The story Levantes Dance Theatre tells is a human one – the story of two people. It is about the serendipity of how, why, where, when and who we find ourselves synchronizing with. It explores the contradictions of partnership: co–dependency, competitiveness, the mundane and even the ridiculous. In Two Peas without a Pod, familiar habits are mixed in with dance choreography, visual and live art. It had a charming peculiarity that mixed absurdity with tenderness. I found this performance at Theatre in the Mill endearing: paper airplanes flying across the stage; a microphone and stand assembled and disassemmbled from the boundaries of a leather suitcase; and performers who had a transparent yet charming engagement with us, the audience. The animation film by Gopan Iriduri was brilliant – 1950’s ladies appear reminding me of a 1950’s advertisement for the travelling housewife. I thought about childhood memories and those days when going on holiday ‘on a plane’ was an epic adventure.
I had the pleasure of meeting Levantes Dance Theatre, aka Eleni Edipidi and Bethanie Harrison, after the show – they were charming off as well as on stage, which just goes to show that part of the charm of this piece was Levantes Dance Theatre themselves.
Two Pea without a Pod is distinctive – with clever direction and beautiful design. Catch it while you can at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre (Northern Ballet Building) this Thursday May 16th.
Oh and I suggest vintage dress code for full effect.
@Zoe_Parker blogs about wellbeing and creativity and is currently choreographing Million Dollar Mermaids with @yorkslifeaqua.