Yamamba (2006)
Inspired by Japanese Noh play Yamamba (The Mountain Crone), this duet portrays the emotions evoked by meeting one's opposite. Music: Angie Armitadgiaja. Panel drawings: Judy Boreham. Funded by Arts Council England, East. Yamamba has been presented in Resolution!06, London; Pulse Festival, Ipswich; The Junction, Cambridge; PlatformEast, Ipswich.
Inspired by Japanese Noh play Yamamba (The Mountain Crone), this duet portrays the emotions evoked by meeting one's opposite. Music: Angie Armitadgiaja. Panel drawings: Judy Boreham. Funded by Arts Council England, East. Yamamba has been presented in Resolution!06, London; Pulse Festival, Ipswich; The Junction, Cambridge; PlatformEast, Ipswich.
Yamamba is an inviting work. Within a set design that lends itself to dramatically silhouetted movements, the two dancers present dual stories that are separate, throughout, regardless of the use of contact. Their execution of movement is strikingly different, one calm, the other almost disjointed. This juxtaposition is developed further as Sarah Golding hums a soft delicate tune while Jia-Yu Chang whispers obsessively; her voice and awkward movement reminded me of Gollam’s possessed behaviour in The Lord of The Rings. This is an emotionally rich piece, thanks to pleasingly original movement and the layering of performance techniques.
By Laura Griffiths
Resolution! review January 2006