Review: Fuerza Bruta’s Aven – high energy but unremarkable

How much is too much? What about “aerial acrobatics, stunning dance sequences, playful water effects and electrifying immersive elements” all in the same performance?

Well, gird your loins, as this is what Fuerza Bruta: Aven promises to offer.

The Argentine show first opened Off-Broadway (New York City) in 2007, ran for nine years, and has since been touring globally. Their current Roundhouse season, the second London stint, is a little shorter running from mid-July until 1 September.

The blurb promises a lot: the blurring of boundaries between performers and audience, the morphing of physicality and set – basically total immersion it sounds like. And in reality, aspects of the aforementioned can’t be denied. But the overall production is a house of cards situation. What’s actually there if you take away all the smoke and mirrors… not a lot.

The Roundhouse is indeed an original venue, and we all packed in during an inoffensive dance music DJ set.

When the show kicked off, we had five performers drumming and singing like no tomorrow. But very quickly one realised their antics are heavily supported by a booming backing track. And this suggestion of superficiality never really leaves.

The show is made up of numerous vignettes with no obvious connection, so one aims to engage with what’s presented… but this becomes more trying as things develop.

We had a very large globe overhead with four aerialists attached, but they didn’t really do anything besides run around it. Impressive? I’m afraid not really.

Next came a funnel with powerful wind and confetti. Think snow globe. And again…the individual inside proceeded to run around for a bit, in a rather hot and bothered fashion.

Following was a lady in a shallow, transparent bath who thrashed around for no obvious reason. We then had a few group numbers with performers doing commercial hip-hop while attached to aerial wires, but they didn’t actually leave the ground. Well, they traversed from the main stage to a central platform, but that was it. So fundamentally we were watching over-energised marionettes. And I don’t really know why.

A crane was then transported into the centre of the space with lots of pomp and ceremony, and finally someone left the ground. A single performer was basically swung around whilst making a few shapes and screaming simultaneously.

Next, our attention was focused on a wind corridor of sorts that included mesmerising plumes of smoke. We had two performers slow-mo spinning like jewellery box ballerinas, without the balletic form. Another woman clearly perturbed by the wind and doing major backbends to communicate this, and then a final group of five who got equally sexual and violent about the whole situation. This interlude’s artistic premise theoretically has real promise, but what’s practically offered isn’t rising to the atmospheric occasion.

After this, the audience was hosed down by a jet-spray wielding member of the cast, and then a humongous whale appeared with two performers inside to manoeuvre the mammal, to at times, impressive effect. The younger members of the audience were definitely impressed, but I was mostly making sure its tail didn’t whack me on the head.

And then, when nothing else seemed possible, a row of giant sprinklers turned on and proceeded to drench the audience members in the centre of the space, and a group of maniac marionettes who joined them. Personally, I like a formal warning regarding water interaction, but I fear I’m a massive bore.

If people don’t do a lot of theatre, this show will work for them as its bombastic production levels can’t be denied, specifically the relentless and impressive dynamic lighting design. For me it lacked enough (or any real) aerial content, the dance element was high energy but unremarkable, and if honest: I don’t know how it lasted for 9 years on (Off-) Broadway.

Matthew Paluch Guest Author

Matthew Paluch was awarded a place at The Royal Ballet School in 1990 where he graduated in 1997. His first four years as a professional dancer were spent working with London City Ballet, Scottish Ballet, K-Ballet and English National Ballet, becoming a full-time member of ENB until leaving in 2006.

Matthew graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance, Professional Dancers’ Teaching Diploma in 2007, and was formerly on faculty at The Royal Ballet School. He completed his Masters in Ballet Studies at Roehampton University in 2011, has been a freelance writer since 2010 and currently works in the Law Sector.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.