Durham Fringe Festival 2025
For Steve and Furtherfield – A Dance Showcase
North East Dancers and Abbott Dance Theatre
Genre: Dance and Movement Theatre, Movement, Physical Theatre, Storytelling
Venue: Fonteyn Ballroom, Durham SU
Festival: Durham Fringe Festival
Low Down
Stepping across the stony Prebends bridge in Durham, lies the wonderful Fonteyn Ballroom – an epic studio of great magnitude, hosting some of Durham Fringe’s Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus for this year’s festival.
This double barrel of a showcase was truly a highlight of this festival – both pieces so understated and elegant in their delivery and format – not trying to be a bold and brash, just a succession of butterflies floating through a given space in any given time. I felt truly transported and cocooned in this experience, separate from the outside world for just a moment. This is what theatre should be right?
First, expect to see ‘For Steve’ an evocative piece that explores the boundaries surrounding intimacy, touch, and social interaction – how the pandemic left boxes, some of us inside one – and others inside another. Supported by an exquisite underscore composed by Grahame Easthope and Findlay Hewitson.
Closing the showcase is the zany surreal performance art piece – Furtherfield: ‘inspired by Kim McDermottroe’s experience of pareidolia and how she encounters the world as an autistic artist.’ An artist takes their seat, as the visions of the broken bird start taking shape with an original funky soundtrack.
Review
As the lights go down, a compelling beam of yellow light forms a corridor on stage – and there – circling in small motion footing are the dancers Eve Walker and Maria Giacchetto. Rotating in the smallest moments, in slow motion transitions; moving ever so slowly. This bubbling energy of human contact is evolving, moving as the supporting musical underscore takes hold – this feels like summer, happiness, nostalgia – light. Both dancers slowly pivot through the corridor of light, still seeking to find each other, connected by elbows and palms they embrace this intimacy as Grahame Easthope’s Saxophone vibrations blends into the movement so effortlessly. The space becomes transcendent – timeless.
Both dancers use this sparse space to dance alone, breaking from their most intimate position. As they move within the four white spotlights – their shadows press gently on the curtains of the stage – still hopeful – still moving. At no point do we see the performers maintain eye-contact with each other here, still dancing alone. Findlay Hewitson and Grahame Easthope’s underscore fits the freedom and restriction of the movement, becoming confrontational at points as the convoluted movements proceed but facing away – always away. This is a poignant piece of theatre that allows you to focus on the elements that connected us during the pandemic – the power of music – the power of relationships and how society enabled us to find our way back to each other. Will they find their way back to each other, will they remember what occupying the same space felt like again? This duet of contemporary pathways feels like the best metaphor for anyone striking to find their way back to familiarity, to surrounding form and community.
The second showcase of the evening couldn’t be more contrasting in form, and yet still evoked similar themes of intimacy and occupying new spaces. Here we meet ‘Furthefield’ – More of an art installation/dance that evokes the mood and feelings of the woman’s zany sketches from the green suitcase – captured in a pool of light. As an unassuming woman, played by Kim McDermottroe, moves through the audience and takes her seat on stage it becomes clear that her visions become manifested in the fragile broken bird laying helpless on the stage. The bird, performed by dancer Kristin Kelly Abbott, slowly begins to provoke her audience through intricate convulsions of her wrists and waist, one hand the broken disfigured tail and the other – the one looming eye, looking for direction and seeking adventure. Abbott playfully performs the creature with kooky movements that have you focused on the bulging eye – forever watching, intrigued by the innovation of her artist’s creations. Abbott skillfully uses the singular ballet shoe to create her animalistic alignment and isolation of her body, whilst grounding the animal in the earth with her other foot – this allows the creature to move in quick succession holding the audience’s attention. At no point does the eye lose it’s hold of the audience and it’s master, forever morphing through the space, in time with the artist’s hand. The intention of the movement is always clear, each aspect of this routine is carefully placed within its feral/celestial form. Such a stunning surreal piece, with a clear vision and a telescope of an eye that always feels the vocal point of the piece.
The isolation of the bird resonates with anyone struggling with connection, anxiety or finding the correct emotions in others, it’s not that the bird isn’t interested in people, objects or life – it just prefers to watch at a distance. The choice to cover Abbott’s face at all times highlights these social behaviours well and the experience humans witness when actively engaging in pareidolia, allowing the audience to filter the storytelling through somewhere else – the clouds, the rain, the ground. From nature, comes the creature by not in it’s literal state/context – not as expected.
Sit – Breathe – and stay for a minute, as you allow yourself to crave human connection or rather, watch from afar – the power of dance allows you to do this – seeing life in the park or the clouds. It would have been interesting to see both pieces in a different setting, projections/film could have been used further to highlight the movements or indeed the wonderful sketches that informed the creation of ‘Furtherfield’ – if you were sitting at the back you might have missed these works of art – a missed opportunity here and something to consider.
Both performances are worthy of another stage and many more performances, and I look forward to seeing where they perform next.
