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Sideways Rain presents Alias' choreographer Guihermo Botelho's take on the evolution of mankind and our constant need to change and adapt. The cast of 16 dancers perform a series of movement in a continuous flow from left to right.

It starts with performers crawling across the stage on a haunting score by Mexican composer Fernando Corona. Music and movement accelerates and the performers become almost like insects or primal creatures, relevant to the theme of the piece. The choreography then takes on a liquid quality: a fluidity that kicks off the optical illusion that the floor of the stage is moving like a conveyor belt. This trick runs throughout the whole performance very successfully.

The constant stream of bodies across the stage in varying movement sequences also starts dehumanising the performers who at times become what could be viewed as a rolling bush, a passing fish or any other creature that one might envisage. Botelho creates an environment open to interpretation. There is limited but quite beautiful interactions constantly interrupted by the flow which seems incapable of stopping.

Towards the end, the sequences become increasingly human, with dancers now looking up or down, altogether starting to acknowledge their surroundings. Very subtle costume changes happen seamlessly, accentuating the gender of performers: women lose their trousers for skirts or dresses and men their tshirts for shirts. Then, the flow hastens in a final crescendo that ends up with naked bodies running across the stage pulling a thin string along with them. This results in another optical illusion of speed and movement which, combined with the naked runners, feels like a commentary on the human condition of our need to just ‘keep going’, much like life itself.

The ‘evolution’ doesn’t happen chronologically or in an explicit way but it is somewhat successful in creating a reflection on mankind’s journey - if you read the programme notes. Intermittent lulls and dips of energy were felt throughout the audience but not for very long. However it did make the performance slightly lumpy and not as cohesive as one would hope.

The main downfall of this performance is the confusing on-off narrative moments which feel unnecessary, out of place and completely disposable. At one point in the constant stream, a man and a woman stop and acknowledge each other. That moment felt like the performance was gearing in a different, maybe more explicit direction but ended up being yet another isolated incident which just didn’t quite work.

The cast really showcased some incredible dance talent and control, all magnified by their connection as a company which comes across very strongly.

Overall, Sideways Rain is a visually pleasing performance which plays very clever optical tricks and successfully makes dancers shapeshift from humans to ‘things’ through movement. However, it slightly lacked in consistency partly due to the odd isolated attempts to create a narrative disrupting the flow of energy felt by the audience.