Tied up in knots

One of Ireland’s most innovative dance companies, CoisCeim is marking its 10th anniversary.
Crowning the celebrations will be an ambitious new production for the Dublin Fringe Festival. Based on a book by the psychoanalyst R.D. Laing Knots tries tp “untangle the complexity of human relationships”.
This production will feature six dancers, including CoisCeim director David Bolger and it is directed by Liam Steel.
Bolger says that Laing’s book conveys an insight into the human condition and it is therefore perfect for adaptation.
He says: “Part of Laing’s book tells of how people argue with each other and how it all inevitably comes back in a cyclical fashion,” he responds.
Originally, the several different texts had been considered for adaptation: “Laing’s text kept coming up and Liam was very keen to use it.”
The subject matter suited Steel’s style of direction, says Bolger.
“He uses text and movement in a very individualistic way and the movements are quite strong, even brutal at times, so the subject matter suits this,” he says. “There’s even a point where all the dancers wear straitjackets and this is a metaphor for the fact that sometimes, in a relationship, we all feel we are going a bit mad,” he says.
“But it starts with the six of us in cubicles, on our own, then we move out and try and connect with a partner and what follows is a symbol of how we do tie ourselves up in knots in relationships.”
As Nat ‘King’ Cole might say: ‘You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love!’ Bolger laughingly agrees, but more seriously suggests that Knots doesn’t merely give form to Laing’s text. In addition, it articulates what the dancers feel about their own relationships, with other people and with CoisCeim.
But, as with all art – particularly dance, perhaps – the main aspiration is to express the inexpressible, as paradoxical as that may sound
“That is exactly what we are trying to do and that’s why I think Knots will be a very easy show for people to relate to,” Bolger explains. ‘And the great thing with Liam is that he is a very clear choreographer and he constantly works with human issues.
Steel is also used to pushing boundaries, explains Bolger.
“The last show he did himself was about the nail bomber who went in and bombed the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho in London. It wasn’t exactly about that, but it was about the mindset that leads people to do such things, all of which, of course, is particularly timely at the moment.”
Dance, says Bolger, is the perfect medium for exploring complex issues.
“The great thing about dance in this show is that it is not coming from a concept of ‘here are some nice steps, let’s hope we can put some drama on it.’ It’s coming from the drama and we are even using the rhythm of some of the speeches from Laing, using that as part of the springboard to get the language, even in the sense that he uses word association. It’s all fascinating really.”
The challenge for CoisCeim, of course, is to make Knots something audiences are fascinated by.
“One thing that really attracted me to Liam Steel’s work in terms of wanting him to work with CoisCeim is that watching his work is the closest thing to watching a very fast video playing in front of your eyes, in the sense that you are getting an awful lot of information at any one time” Bolger explains.
“Then Liam starts to peel back that information to reveal something else or say something else in a different way. That’s what makes Liam’s work so wonderfully layered.”
Knots is part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. Booking office now open at 1850 FRINGE or www.fringefest.com