Sébastien Ramirez & Honji Wang, dance review: Poetry in gravity-defying motion

Bungee ropes allow the dancers new powers of movement, says Lyndsey Winship
Subtle but stunning: the Borderline dancers work their magic
Lyndsey Winship5 October 2015

She walks up the side of his body, coils around his neck and then, just as he goes to embrace her, flies out of his grasp and disappears into the darkness of the stage.

In Honji Wang and Sébastien Ramirez’s new show, Borderline, bungee ropes allow the dancers new powers of movement, letting them defy gravity and struggle against forces of restraint.

But that’s not the whole story. The French-German duo are hip hop dancers who moved into contemporary dance, turning hip hop’s self-satisfied tricks into something more subtle. The dream-like Borderline takes place on a hushed, low-lit stage against soporific beats. In fact, they’ve turned down the volume so far, flattening the climaxes, that you could almost not notice what incredible dancers they are. Ramirez and fellow b-boys Louis Becker and Mustapha Saïd Lahlouh are stunning technicians, bursting out flurries of looping, spiralling shapes with fluid control, using each other’s bodies as counterweights, balanced at impossible angles.

Sometimes, it’s almost too low key and, while there are easy metaphors — particularly with the bungees, pulling each other’s strings etc — they could get their teeth deeper into thematic ideas. Still, this is an ingenious show by stunning performers.

Latest dance articles

1/9

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT