Chan, Parbati Chaudhury, Nasia Kelepeshi and Amina Khayyam.
For a dance show that claims to be about expressing womanhood, there seems to be a lot of self-destruction in this piece from Amina Khayyam.
Slut is an interesting mixture of defiance and stereotype, defending the joys of dance and the pride in our own sexuality while portraying this exploration as being destructive and addictive. Four performers portray one dancer from childhood to rehab as her love of dance begins to influence more than just her passion.
Along her path lie other people’s judgements and temptations. Soon her dancing is beyond innocence and joy – it, and she, has become tempting because of it. She encounters predators who shape her and her sexuality, and eventually this becomes reductive for her before she learns to own it.
What could be defiance thrown in the face of society’s labels seems instead a confusingly cautionary tale, as the girl stumbles into the night time world of sex, alcohol and cigarettes, and does not appear to be in control of any of it.
A few of the sequences last too long with a lot of repetition – an hour’s performance could be forty minutes. However the shorter, punchy sequences such as the passionate scene at the beginning are exciting and well delivered. The performers are wonderfully unapologetic in their movement and this alone liberates them regardless of the story.
2nd-27th August at 11.45