Dance Review: Here;s to the Ladies in Red.

(Image: Brian Hartley)

Dance

Revel

Citizens Studio Theatre, Glasgow

Mary Brennan 

four stars

Here’s to the ladies in red - everybody laugh, choke back sudden tears, laugh some more and readily applaud because the hour we spend in their company is a joyously frank and funny riposte to gloomy age-ism.
This new Company Chordelia ‘coming of age’ piece sees Kally Lloyd-Jones - Chordelia’s artistic director - and fellow choreographer Steinvör Palsson squaring up to the realities and prospects of being over 60. Ouch!

There are now daily aches and pains, niggling away at the eloquent physicality they both revelled in as professional dancers while also eroding fragile self esteem.

Doubts about going on-stage are creeping in - will they, at their age, be making a spectacle of themselves?  Luckily for us, they decide to ‘go for it’ in a feisty double act that never shies away from such home truths as needing reading glasses - not just for small print - and irksome moments of forgetfulness.
We find them backstage in a shared dressing room, with the tannoy announcing their nine hour call. Nine hours?! Time needed to warm up fretful muscles, rehearse moves and allow wistful memories of past performances to surface as the mix of classical and contemporary music unfolds.

Time, too, for their distinctly different personalities - differing attitudes to fitness and wellbeing, preferred stretches and movement styles - to emerge, even as their obvious rapport sees them being mutually supportive in mindset and movement. 
Sassy humour weaves through their exchanges, but there’s an ongoing awareness of how age-related changes alter perspectives and possibilities. One deliciously droll sequence sees them trashing Barbie dolls, ruefully murmuring “I used to be able to..” while bending the dolls’ double-jointed limbs every which way. As the clock ticks down relentlessly, there comes a resilient decision to channel what artistry is still inherent in them . So on go the slinky red dresses, and presto! there is an outpouring of grace and elegance that gladdens our eyes and our hearts.
So here’s to these ladies who dance - everybody cheer, because their undaunted spirit is truly life-affirming. Here’s hoping Revel returns to our stages at some point in the future - it’s an absolute treat and a tonic