Dance & Film: Mythmaking

Nora the Many
dir-prd Stephanie McMann, Eleanor Sikorski, Flora Wellesley Wesley
scr Eleanor Bauer, Stephanie McMann, Eleanor Sikorski, Flora Wellesley Wesley
with Stephanie McMann, Eleanor Sikorski, Flora Wellesley Wesley, Fox Gill-McMann, Eleanor Bauer
music Zeena Parkins
22/UK 1h10
Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells, London • 29-30.Sep.22

British dance collective Nora collaborated with American choreographer Eleanor Bauer to workshop the graphic/choreo novel Nora the Many in 2020. And now they have adapted it for the big screen with a superb sense of wit and imagination. It's an experimental film that explores myths and movement in surreal ways that play with improvisation and characterisation, accompanied by a terrific acoustic score by Zeena Parkins.

The story circles around the regulars at Cindy's Bar, where indulgent performance artist Divina (McMann) is "seen by many, liked by few". Her biggest fan is her son Tworden (Wesley), a giant who is the planet to Divina's star. There's also Tina (Sikorski), the distracted bartender; the club night's lively host Lauden (Wesley); regular audience member Alan (Sikorski); and the electric child Elba (Gill-McMann), who lives in the woods.

Conversational voiceovers describe the characters and situations while pondering the larger mysteries surrounding these people, their inter-relationships and their connections to the universe. All of this is delivered in a hilariously deadpan style by performers seem to be improvising their dialog. So as they discuss heavy philosophical and existential ideas, they are grappling with whether to laugh at the absurdity or cry about the deeper meanings. Meanwhile, the visuals often involve freeform dance sequences, from the opening scene in a studio to extended pieces set in the woods.

Through all of this, the performer-filmmakers are challenging the audience to broaden our view of the world, to listen to smells and to doubt the constraints of things like time and gravity. Their witty wordplay is wonderfully provocative, as is how they have fun with cinematic perspective and juxtaposition. And they are also reinterpreting the nature of storytelling itself. In other words, there's a lot to take in over a brisk 70 minutes. But if we can slot in to their goofy internal logic, this collective has the power to broaden the way we see the world.

photos by Nora • 29.Sep.22