Fauna is an electrifying contribution to the London International Mime Festival 2018. The performance captures the gestures and motions of the natural world, human and animal, and transforms them, immersing the audience in a completely new environment.
The performers move through a landscape which is at once familiar, and completely alien, through a perfect balance of light and sound. It is, at times, hard to tell whether the performers are moving to the music or inspiring it as they play. Fauna successfully draws you out of yourself and into an entirely different space.
For an instant you may think you recognise a bird, a dog, a lemur. But just as soon as you have seen it, the gesture has been engaged by another performer, becoming something else entirely. Each member of this group reveals a strikingly individual character through solo performance and perfectly choreographed group pieces. The delight of this collaboration is the invitation to the audience to imagine themselves in each scenario – flirtation, competition, fascination and frustration – and yet to allow these emotions and interactions to be seen from a new perspective.
Each gesture is both playful and meaningful in constructing their world. The performance explores tension and release, balance and falling, deliberation and mistakes. Fauna moves swiftly, treading a delicate path between control and abandon. While each interaction between these talented performers seems spontaneous, a split-second reaction to another body, the ease with which this bold new company performs belies the careful consideration of their work.
The company’s daring movements and tongue-in-cheek delivery will you make you gasp and laugh out loud. The alternative world created by Fauna is invigorating. I could see this performance again and again. Fauna will leave you wishing for more!