EdFringe Review: The 11th Hour

This year, theQR.co.uk is partnering with the Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (TDFS) to support the continued development of new dance critics they began mentoring last year. This review of IMAGO has been contributed by Alena Shmakova of the Edinburgh-based, Les Danses Antiques:

11th Hour is a compelling double bill featuring choreography by Singaporean artist Rachel Lum and British choreographer Sam Coren. Together, they explore one of humanity’s deepest mysteries – death and what lies beyond – through a fusion of Asian and Western perspectives. The result is a rich tapestry of myth, fear, and absurdity surrounding our final moments.

Themes like decadence and death may seem unconventional during festival season, yet 11th Hour offers a thought-provoking lens on mortality, enriched by layered symbolism and cross-cultural dialogue. The concept of Danse Macabre, the dance of death, has long haunted visual art, and it’s fascinating to see how contemporary dance reinterprets this motif.

Sam Coren revisits familiar terrain. His 2016 work Danse Macabre fused sorrow and solemnity, and in Death to Duets, he presents six distinct dances culminating in ‘Final Curtain’, a deconstructed fantasy inspired by The Impossible Dream, originated from Man of La Mancha. Echoes of his earlier work appear in pantomimic gestures, symbolic costumes, and references to iconic paintings.

A striking motif in Coren’s piece is the multiplication of “deaths”, shifting from a single figure to a proliferation of death personified. This inversion reframes the experience: from humans surrounded by death to death itself as the central force. Paper dolls representing humanity intensify the imagery, reminiscent of Rosslyn Chapel’s Dance of Death. The puppeteer dynamic, death controlling human movement, is explored poignantly in duets, where dancers resist before being overtaken.

The masque of death, especially in ‘Final Curtain’, evokes Death as Trickster. Coren channels the essence of Danse Macabre paintings, reimagined in modern attire, making death feel immediate and tangible, adding new dimension to familiar archetypes.

“The result is a rich tapestry of myth, fear, and absurdity surrounding our final moments.“

Rachel Lum’s choreography offers a contrasting lens, rooted in Asian motifs and symbolic gestures. Her piece Four carries cultural weight; in Mandarin, the word for “four” (四, sì) closely resembles “death” (死, sǐ), lending quiet gravity to her choice of four dancers. Lum also employs the recurring motif of “11th”, a metaphor for life’s final hour, common for both Eastre and Western cultures, charged with urgency and reflection.

Pushing into experimental territory, Lum integrates claps and vocalisations into the soundscape. One standout moment features dancers synchronizing movement with Mandarin speech, blurring the boundary between sound and motion. A deeper understanding of the language might enhance the emotional impact, yet even without semantic clarity, the resonance is palpable. In another scene, dancers vocalize Mandarin-like sounds, culminating in a powerful image as they shout toward a beam of light, a metaphor for life’s final ascent. This is echoed in the exhausting climb of a metaphorical mountain, capturing the tension between perseverance and surrender.

While death is present in Lum’s work, it’s rendered less literally than in Coren’s. Her choreography meditates on life’s fragility and the moments preceding its end. Themes of loss and violence surface, but the focus remains on vulnerability and reflection.

Both choreographies are steeped in symbolism and, at times, dehumanizing in their intensity. The dancers surrender fully to the movement, embodying brutal physicality that underscores the theme of death, aptly resonating with the company’s name, Decadance. The symbolic landscapes evoke the haunting surrealism of Hieronymus Bosch: layered, otherworldly, and emotionally charged, with the lingering feeling that certain meanings have inevitably eluded you.