Dance: Celestial bodies

Lunar Halo
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung
music Sigur Rós
dancers Chan Pui-pui, Chen Tsung-chiao, Chou Chen-yeh, Fan Chia-hsuan, Hsu Chih-hen, Huang Lu-kai, Huang Mei-ya, Huang Po-kai, Lee Tzu-chun, Liao Chin-ting, Shao Hsing-wen, Wang Chun-hung, Wu Jui-ying
design/direction Jam Wu • lighting Shen Po-hung
costumes Chen Shao-yen • video Ethan Wang
Sadler's Wells • 30.Nov-2.Dec.23 ★★★★

Inspired by the celestial phenomenon in which ice crystals in the atmosphere create a shimmering circle around the moon, this performance explores how our bodies change and interact with an increasingly technological world. This mix of nature and human ingenuity is bracingly unusual, performed by Cloud Gate with an astonishing physicality that continually takes the breath away. It's a bit enigmatic but also exhilarating, like a painting that comes to breathing, heart-pounding life.

The dancers are lean, strong and remarkably controlled as they dive into Cheng Tsung-lung's demanding choreography. Movement is fluid at a variety of speeds, as the performers shift in and out of positions, both on their own and in unison. Pairs display spectacularly fluid, gravity-defying lifts while solos involve intense flexibility, including precise, controlled movements standing on one foot. Costumes shift from flowing trousers to skin-coloured underpants.

All of this is performed with vivid, sometimes extreme lighting and a set of video screens that continually offer visual surprises, whether it's the appearance of a towering figure, a torso as a landscape or mirrored maze that captures the dancers inside. The effect is often jaw-dropping, but everything plays into a soulful exploration of humanity as it exists among nature, alone or in community. Or the feeling of sitting with the glow of a screen as our only company.

The score by Sigur Rós often feels more like a soundscape than music, but it also provides an intriguingly sharp musicality to the movement. Gender is often a factor, with men and women sometimes adopting specific positions that play on sexuality and roles. Perhaps the most striking image is the extended opening sequence in which the male dancers link to form a single organism, stretching and bending and reaching toward the sky.

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photos by Cheng Chen-chou, Tristram Kenton • 30.Nov.23