CALM AND RAW
“Kari Hoaas´ performance at Dancefestival Barents was worth a visit and more. The piece “On the desperate edge of now” gives the audience everything from quite melancholy to muscular explosivness. Both in expression and execution. Hoaas uses five men in the performance to create an emotionally complex expression, she describes it herself as giving room for ambiguity and contradiction. By adding our own personal interpretations the performance becomes complete. Because this performance includes almost everything. In the beginning we sense only the contures of five men that carefully try to connect to each other. Then the temperature continues to rise and the audience witness both sober dancing and explosive acrobatics. The performance soundscore can at one moment make anyone want to slumber, just to find oneself joltet up holding on to the chair at the next moment. For someone (like this critic) who is not familiar with contemporary dance and its different expressions, these contrasts keeps my keen attention. In this way choreographer and director Kari Hoaas has hit the mark. The five men seem to have excellent connection and collaboration between them and their interactions are really well timed and syncronized. The performance has numerous sequenses that all in different ways demands its man – literally. To communicate danger and hardship demands such a strong visual expression. At least through dance, I think.” – Sverre Joakimsen, Finnmark Dagblad