Edinburgh International Festival dance review: Figures in Extinction
The climate crisis is addressed with empathy, wit and assuredness in a new collaboration between Simon McBurney and Crystal Pite, writes Kelly Apter
DANCE
Nederlands Dans Theater: Figures in Extinction ★★★★★
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, until 24 August
How do you talk about climate change, animals and plants becoming extinct, and humanity losing its connection to nature and each other, and still entertain? Every nook and cranny of Figures in Extinction is crammed with philosophical ideas and scientific research, not all of which is easily understood. Yet co-creators Simon McBurney and Crystal Pite approach these weighty topics with such wit, empathy and assuredness, we always feel in safe hands.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that each droplet of information (imparted via a voiceover spoken by McBurney and a cluster of experts), is accompanied by movement that’s easy on the eye. Choreographer Pite has a long-running relationship with Nederlands Dans Theater, and knows exactly how to give these thoroughbred dancers the steps they deserve.
Over the course of this extraordinary, thought-provoking three-part work, however, they are required to do much more than dance. Part one, ‘the list’, finds them subtly and sensitively depicting animals, glaciers and flora lost to the world. In part two, ‘but then you come to the humans’ they illustrate how our brains work. While part three, ‘requiem’, a deeply touching exploration of death, asks them to share details of their lost ancestors. Throughout, they are never less than incredible.
KELLY APTER
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