Review: Lost Connection (Summerhall)

More of t-shirts than of tech

Just when you think you have seen every creative flyer possible, you are handed a temporary tattoo with the details for the show handwritten in Sharpie on the back. I was so charmed I hardly noticed that it was advertising Seed Dance Company’s Lost Connection, a Taiwanese dance performance about “phubbing” – paying more attention to your devices than the company you are with. It is choreographed by Wen-Jen Huang, who usually specialises in work about rural life reflecting the small township where she grew up. So, what does a temporary tattoo have to do with phone addiction? Well, nothing, but if Lost Connection is anything to go by, then maybe that is their trademark – creating something a little bit brilliant that is completely detached from the main theme.

The first of our four dancers zombie-walks onto the stage, transfixed by the light of her phone. Moments later, the phone goes away, but the glazed look remains and is mirrored by every other dancer as they emerge from the shadows. They lurch and flow like rag dolls, tugging at each other's t-shirts that pull them closer and cover their faces and are torn off entirely. But even their conflict seems frictionless, almost apathetic. Their movements are often acrobatic and puppet-like, leaping onto shoulders and creating insect-like tableaus. The detachment on display is far deeper and more open to interpretation than the premise suggests, but it is no less enthralling.

If creating a dance performance about phone obsession was an assignment, then Lost Connection is not entirely successful, but sometimes failure speaks to the creativity of the people behind it. Wen-Jen is clearly a choreographer who does not colour within the lines. Between her and the hugely talented performers, they have created a show that maximises their talents rather than the premise. They say this is a show for people who cannot stop looking at their phones. I would suggest this is more of a show for people who cannot connect with the world even when they have put their phone down. Three stars.

Whispers from the Crowd: "I wish my eight year old niece (who is beginning to dance and is obsessed with her phone) could see this. She would be inspired."

Lost Connection will play at 13:35 at Summerhall until the 25th of August