Diamond Nights #9
Saturday 26th May was Cafe Reason’s 9th Diamond Night. Featuring film, dance and live music. As ever an interesting and varied mix of performances. Peter Jones showed one section of a four part film series based on the elements. The one presented showed a fascinating range of shots and effects all linked by the theme ‘earth’ – from slow motion digging and throwing of sod to timelapse growth of mushrooms, eroding sands, google like earth to abstracted atmospheric images. Myself , Paola Esposito and Paul MacKilligin filled a gap with an underprepared and last minute improvisation. Anne Ryan from the depth of the stage beautifully sang a song to a tune written for guitar and was accompanied by a wonderfully expressive dance of hands by Flavia Coube. Ending the first half Fabrizia Verrechia performed ‘Sleeping in the Forest’ A serene piece rich with natural and spiritual references and detailed attention to visual presentation.
The second half began with another video this time by Dariusz Dziala and featuring Paola Esposito. Crisp, clean and intriguing, the camera followed a character both in harmony and at odds with the passing crowd and used time, speed and direction to great effect. Flavia Coube followed this in another of her wonderfully succinct and hauntingly evocative creations of character. The evening finished with a Cafe Reason group piece ‘Doll’s House’ choreographed by Jeannie Donald McKim. In a new development the group used voices – sung, spoken and garbled which has added a new dimension to their work. The piece ended with a surprising and dramatic contrast in tone with a powerful performance by Fabrizia Verrechia as a malevolent spirit juxtaposing a madcap frantic dance by the rest of the cast.