Review: Chicos Mambo’s TUTU – “the dancers are something else”

TUTU by Philippe Lafeuille could be described in many ways – weird, random, laugh-out-loud funny, or all of the above. It also strays towards ‘not quite working’ at times, but considering it’s been performed virtually nonstop since its creation in 2014, something is obviously right.

The winning factors are the show’s overall originality – you can’t even imagine where it will go next – and the brilliant cast of seven, six men and one woman (who mostly cameos). The dancers are something else! Perhaps not always the most technically polished, but nonetheless a group of performers who bring everything and then some to the jam-packed proceedings.

The show is 70 minutes of numerous scenes that range from piss-taking to quiet poignancy, throughout which the cast does not stop. And the gruelling, relentless content doesn’t seem to impact their commitment levels one iota.

What’s evident to me is that Lafeuille knows dance, and clearly adores it. As although the mode most used is mocking, it’s done so with innate understanding which develops into a form of love.

So many genres feature – classical, contemporary, street, ballroom, gymnastics (the rhythmic side) and so on – and each is explored through different approaches, mostly comedic, mostly amusing.

Classically speaking, we have a duck version of Swan Lake‘s Cygnets, two interludes from The Sleeping Beauty where the male dancer is both en pointe and en travesti, and going about things as best he can, that is aiming to do the steps well, which he largely does, rather than garnering cheap laughs via total bedlam. There is also a Dying Swan that goes from momentarily profound to comedic hand puppetry with ease. Variations of the tutu feature – hence the show’s title – but I’ll come back to that later in relation to bubbling undercurrents.

Contemporary-wise there is a French & Saunders style parody ranging from Judson Dance Theater-esque minimalism, vegetables (don’t ask but it’s somehow very funny), longhaired wailing banshees à la Graham, and a Rite of Spring performed by toddlers bedecked in tulle nappies. I did say weird earlier…

Elsewhere there’s a very funny ballroom dance vignette stealing from Strictly Ballroom and Dirty Dancing, an Olga Korbut style group gymnastic number where the male dancers are absolutely loving the pastiche flavour, and a Haka which solidifies the work’s overall, deeper meaning.

To me, that’s the exploration and expression of gender. Throughout the performance notions of masculinity and femininity are excavated, turned on their head, and used as the base creativity in relation to choreography and individual movement.

When seriously analysed this subject can range from the harmless to the offensive, and I’d say that largely speaking TUTU resides somewhere in between – not taking itself too seriously but also offering content that can take the mind somewhere quite philosophical in an instant.

Even though I must have said “what the f***” numerous times during the performance when things got unfathomably random, I left feeling entertained and intrigued. There’s something extremely powerful about seeing dancers in work that allows them to be their true selves, however that may manifest. And though TUTU does this mostly with comedy and pastiche, I also connected with the moments of authenticity realised through art. This fact made me muse and appreciate that I live in a country where not only can this kind of work be contemplated, but it can also actually be embodied and performed to the absolute extreme by inspired individuals. We are blessed I tell ya.

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.