Confusion for Three | Jo Lloyd - Australian Stage Online

Details: Liza Dezfouli; 29 August 2015

Photo – Gregory Lorenzutti

Jo Lloyd’s Confusion for Three is almost like watching toddlers make the funny movements they make for the sheer hell of it.

Confusion for Three attempts to strip away what the body has been taught while staying aware that muscle memory will have its voice. The madness here is contagious; for long moments the three dancers – Lloyd, Rebecca Jensen and Shian Law – tie themselves in knots, struggling to free themselves from being tangled up in a hallucinogenic game of Twister. The trio challenge each other in the way children will dare each other to carry out random physical acts, going just a bit further each time.

There are many shuddering almost epileptic segments, challenging the way they, and we, interact with the world and with each other; a call to honesty. There are some giggly and delightful moments and much to relate to. The dancers throw off their tops when they get too hot, just as you do when you’re seven before you become too body-conscious. Lloyd (Future Perfect) is fully present on stage, Law is graceful and fluid, but Jensen (Overworld) seems to hold back slightly at times, there are fleeting element of self-consciousness in her energy.

More than anything this piece is informed by childhood, making you think of the way very young kids approach each other in the playground, sort of circling the main group, coming slowly closer and gradually joining in the game step by step.

Confusion for Three mostly isn’t pretty; rather it comes across as random and utterly unconstrained, and the pleasure comes from watching the dancers work out how to relate to one another. It’s also a bit much of a good thing; I got the idea and then got a bit bored with the shaking and shuddering, the work started to feel repetitive after a while.

There’s been quite a bit of running around the space in choreography lately, much of the work we see seems to hark back to ‘creative dance’ and becomes reminiscent of ‘performance art’ of the 70s, but maybe this is unfair and curmudgeonly. Probably.

Arts House and Jo Lloyd present
Confusion for Three

Choreographer Jo Lloyd

Venue: North Melbourne Town Hall | 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Dates: 26 – 30 August, 2015
Tickets: $30 – $15
Bookings: artshouse.com.au | (03) 9322 3713
Visit: jolloyd.com

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