Fathom.

DANCE.

A 2011 oldie. Dean Walsh's Fathom @ CarriageWorks.

Devised by Dean Walsh

The depths of the seas have long fascinated human kind.  We dream about beautiful mermaids, poor lost Atlantis and ghosts from the Titanic traipsing the oceanic unknown.  Curiosity becomes us; add in imagination, and the limits are endless.  In Fathom, Dean Walsh presents us with a solo concoction of nostalgia, environmental concern, thought-provoking facts and creative ideas to question in his own unique way, “What lies beneath?”

The stage was bound by hazard tape, while chains and fishing line defined the space.  Walsh stood hauntingly in the corner, fishing rod in hand, pulling at an unattainable bait in the center of the stage.  Face covered, he was an unknown identity representing perhaps an individual, perhaps a generation or indeed, humanity itself.
This establishing image resonated throughout the performance, inviting us to question not only our lives as land-dwellers and our curiosity with the water, but with the impact humans have on the environmental well-being of life below.  Water acts as a barrier for humans to a world we are yet to completely explore or understand.  Yet our actions destroy, hurt and pollute. We ask ourselves, what is the relationship we really have with the sea?

Eventually the barriers are physically ripped, cut and broken down.  Restraints are banished.  Boundaries pushed, environments expanded.  After all we are all part of one world and we should look after it, whether we see beyond the surface of crashing waves or not.  This reminds us to maintain the peace, tranquility and beauty of nature and the sea that we so very much love. The human element of the performance was juxtaposed with Walsh’s transformation into sea creatures, one affecting the other in a series of shifts.  Shift in form, movement, costume and sound.  Through this the audience saw into Walsh’s imagination and his underwater world.

Walsh attempted to create a vocabulary for the sea characters he embodied.  Angular shapes freeze in space; knees and arms unfold and close around the pelvis and chest; twisting, turning and shuffling through space; broad sweeping of the limbs; sliding, squirming and oozing on the floor; muscles jolting, strained and stressed.  Characters possessed different qualities, as Walsh transformed through yellow and then black, became a whale, and then (in what one may almost consider a humorous drag number) a green queen, amongst others.  They saw, searched, screamed, wailed, stripped, loved and cried: each giving a possible insight into this aquatic dream as well as providing food for thought.

A memorable sequence saw Walsh standing at front of stage, with a solitary light shining brightly down upon him.  Shielding his eyes in desperate protection he cleverly unfolded an umbrella, holding it upside down, to reflect the light up and out.  Hooking it to the fixture it cupped the light in a lovely climax to the performance.  The rays were shifted powerfully upwards, illuminated him eerily below.  This image was reminiscent of light entering water, reflecting and scattering into the depths.  Waving cheekily to the audience Walsh’s movements become tense and stiff, before he firmly gripped the tip of the umbrella in his teeth.  Becoming part of the body it created an arresting visual.  As he moved across the stage the open umbrella made Walsh look fantastical, a creature of myth both abstract and beautiful.

The music effectively transported the piece through tranquility and chaos, supporting the changing environments and character moods.

Overall Walsh presented the audience with some beautiful moments, yet bombarded them with an overwhelming amount of visual change and ideas.  This is a developing work that would be interesting to follow, but perhaps slowing down and separating ideas would help with clarity and contemplation.  Compliments should be made to Walsh for his environmentally conscious attempts at communicating through performance, and his gutsy presentation of imagination.