Author’s note: As an outsider to African culture, I am not privy to many of the deeper symbols, sounds and movements that were invoked during the performance. So, I have not attempted to critique or analyze those aspects in this review.
On a cold Friday evening, I arrived at the Annex (downtown Vancouver) at 7:25 PM, in time to attend a production titled Coloured Swan 3: Harriet’s reMix. The show was to begin at 7:30 PM. The long line-up of attendees waiting outside indicated that the show might not begin on time. Eventually, I entered the theater space – a dark room with projected images on one wall and a few props hanging from the ceiling. The performers were seated on tires – nonchalantly waiting for the audience to get comfortable on the floor or chairs around the perimeter of the open stage.
We were onboard a Mothership, traveling at the speed of light. Here, time was a mere construct. Soon, I lost sense of time and space. Everything felt asynchronous with garbled voices and choppy beats. Looming shadows created by the dancers’ movements and props felt meditative – drawing me into existential reveries. The time capsule ventured into multiple landscapes – bursts of flamboyance heralding a neo-colonial rendezvous, edgy movements and rhythms that invoked a soul-stirring image of living on the brink…. The versatile lighting effects coupled with sound design, abstract projections, trance-like body movements and minimal props challenged us to expand our sensory bandwidth. This is one of those shows which can’t really be described with words – one has to experience it.
We live in a world where the concepts of time, identity and culture are commodified. Coloured Swan 3: Harriet’s reMix brilliantly deconstructs these notions, urging the audience to reclaim a few moments away from the grind of everyday life under capitalism to develop new perspectives about life on this planet. What is Mothership? Who lives there? Attend the show and wait for the answers to arrive.
Coloured Swan 3: Harriet’s reMix is part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. This show runs from January 20-22 at the Orpheum Annex in Downtown Vancouver. Book your tickets here.
– Annapoorna Shruthi