Foramen Magnum

Rami Be'er's Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company opened proceedings with a large scale piece, Foramen Magnum, which showed off the physical talents of his company well. Childish needs were served by having much of the early action take place inside a transparent "bouncy castle"; later it matures on to a large inflatable mattress, on which a delicately erotic duet was played out. Around these, the large corps de ballet occupied itself with a set of curious collapsible wooden props, used sometimes for ploughing and sometimes as beach chairs. Some imaginative dance was not well served by lighting which made it difficult to watch the dancers' feet, ugly costumes which hampered their movement, and a constantly jarring choice of ill-assorted music which ranged from Dowland to "Send in the Clowns".