As presented by Coexist Collective and choreographer/producer Aimee Raitman, this ambitious dance performance aims high, and although there’s a little awkwardness it just about works anyway. And this is intended as a very human study of social and oh-so-human awkwardness anyway.
Two dancers are introduced after blackness, and while they never speak (or are named) they’re Patrick O’Luanaigh and Cinzia Schincariol, and they begin by walking in separate circles. This is the beginning of a kind of dance or movement Raitman and others call ‘Contact Improvisation’, and while it goes on a little too long, this opening section is nevertheless intriguing, as they spontaneously fall, follow one another, and soon begin to roughly bump into each other.
Then they’re sprawling, moving together and, eventually, falling against each other in a manner that recalls those team-building trust exercises, as Cinzia intermittently smiles. If the Collective wanted to make a sincere point about the scarier nature of relationships, then this is surely the key sequence, and the music score (viola and vocals by Doreen Ooi, drums and sax by David Craven) and sound design (by Merrick Craven) added much.
Culminating in what is possibly the most audience participation ever seen in a live performance, this ends on an odd note, and yet there is certainly plenty here to carefully consider. And the opening night audience loved it.
And here’s to more Coexisting in the future.
Rating: four stars!
For more information and bookings, visit: adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/pleasedon-tcatchmewhenifall-af2026
