Dance Review

Four dancers gently grab each other in turn, burying their mouths in the other's belly, back or shoulder as they release their feeling through the sounds they make.

By ORA BRAFMAN
ANAT DANIELI Have you seen the movie 'Death of a Lady?' TAPAC July 14 Four dancers gently grab each other in turn, burying their mouths in the other's belly, back or shoulder as they release their feeling through the sounds they make. It is something akin to what parents might do with a newborn baby. On the bare dance floor with a shelter-like décor, the dance could easily be perceived as a studio workshop, but then it all starts to come together. Very carefully, choreographer Anat Danieli, under the suggestive title Have you ever seen to the movie 'Death of a Lady'?, weaves together a series of actions and movements where individual expression is encouraged. Often fake sobs or laughter are uttered out of context, alluding to 'B' movies. Yes, death lurks behind some of the kinetic text employed by the dancers, but Danieli shies away from dramatic gestures or more obvious emotionality. Even a support soundtrack is discarded. Underneath this piece, a delicate web of complex human encounters exists; some dancers portray power games, others deal with intimacy. Danieli manages to orchestrate it all on a gentle register that reflects her humanistic approach. This no-frills work, enacted in modest surroundings, generates mounds of empathy.