a pole | a chair | a stone

London International Mime Festival

Lindbury Studio Theatre | Royal Opera House

O Ultimo Momento (Portugal/France)

Contigo (with you)

Performer: Joao Paulo Dos Santos

Direction: Rui Horta | Joao Paulo Dos Santos

Choreography | Lighitng: Rui Horta

Music: Tiago Cerquiera | Victor Joaquim

Costume: Pedro Pereira Dos Santos

the adrenalin rush as you watched the man upside down perhaps plummet to his death was real | it was hypnotic | it was dance | it was witty | he was strong | there were squares of light | there was a stone | a chair | the chinese pole | it is six metres up | and six metres down | he climbed | he swung | he rolled | he sat | he played | there was incredible | unbearable | tension | at times | he plummeted | we sweated | he saluted | there was a time last year when we considered peter pan doing the chinese pole thing to fly | it could work | joao paulo dos santos held us | captured us | for a timeless forty-five minutes

Q: What makes you want to go up there?

A: So that I can come down here...