From the curious mind of Holly Finch comes a work that invites you to decide for yourself what you’re watching.

yes and also no, subject to xyz, fine print applies is less a fixed narrative and more a choose-your-own-adventure character study. Like a ‘Goosebumps; novel for dance: you’re given the characters, but you decide the story.

The piece is a three-character contemporary dance work by Finch, created in collaboration with performers Tegan Jeffery-Rushton, Natasha Kohler and Oli Mathiesen.

Set to Pink Floyd’s sometimes thundering, sometimes tender music, the performance opens with a projected film of a dancer making his way to the theatre. As his onscreen self arrives, the theatre door swings open and reality bursts in.

Holly’s choreography is thought-provoking, blending contemporary technique with a vocabulary of nuanced, often minimalistic movement. A hand flickers here. A body curls and contorts there.  You can see how strongly music shapes her movement. Drums crash and bodies flail.

She balances this structured movement with moments of improvisation, allowing the dancers to bring themselves fully into their characters, literally throwing themselves at the wall. A nice use of the space and a nod to the band’s album, ‘The Wall’.

The show plays with identity, conflict, and the daily grind of simply getting through life. Being a choose-your-own-adventure kind of piece, you project whatever you need onto the three characters on stage. At one moment they are like the splintered emotions inside a single mind: one stressed, one mad, one bad. In another moment, they are like the heavy outside voices shaping our worlds: family expectations, social pressure, co-worker gossip, all the opinions that tug at who we think we are.

In such a wandering, fluid performance, the soundtrack holds everything together like the score does to film. Pink Floyd’s songs carry nostalgia and shared memory. Hearing them as the three figures wrestle, soften, and unravel it feels as though someone’s childhood is being unpacked in front of you. An unpicking of the threads that form oneself.

The performers deliver powerful, physical work. They throw their weight around, melting into one another, echoing, mimicking, and sometimes becoming each other. At times it feels like they’re moving toward something better, a sense of accomplishment or success. Fast forward five minutes and it seems as though they’re simply trying to hold themselves together long enough to survive the day.

The piece ultimately feels like a reminder that being human is messy, contradictory, beautiful, and often painful. You learn, you carry things, you fight with yourself, and you just try to live and do your best.

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Basement Theatre is a breeding ground for experimental, unexpected, and fresh live theatre works, and Holly Finch’s new work is all that and more; making this location a great space for the first stepping stone of what I hope will be more seasons for this work. yes and also no, subject to xyz, fine print applies is a cacophony of sound, movement and personalities, all jumbled into a short 50-minute piece. It left me immensely satisfied, with a desire to watch it again and again.

We open to a dark and relatively empty space with a film projected on paper tacked to the walls; a surprisingly effective use of projection. We are then introduced to each of our three characters Louise (Natasha Kohler), Hector (Oli Mathiesen) and Joanne (Tegan Jeffery-Rushton). Oli Mathiesen oozes cool and grungy energy, highlighted by the soundtrack, and sets the tone of the work from their first step into the space. Their movement throughout is deliciously juicy and intriguing to watch. Tegan Jeffery-Rushton is explosive in her movement style, her character draws us in with her enigmatic gestures. It is always exciting to see a new dancer on our shores, and she offers something distinct to the performance. Natasha Kohler’s dynamic, athleticism is awe inspiring to watch. Her execution of the key movement phrases left an imprint on me throughout and her use of repetitive gestures for her character verged on creepy in the best way. I was overall impressed by the dancers’ commitment to their characters throughout, I never once saw their intentions drop.

Holly uses clear repetitive movement vocabularies and motifs throughout the work. It is so nice as a viewer to be able to revisit moments, especially through the use of props, making the piece feel well rounded overall. All the prop elements are used in their entirety, becoming a distinct performer in themselves. Even the wall of the studio is an integral part of the work. I’m not sure if it is intentional, but I loved the sweat/moisture of the performers hands as they touch the wall. It created an imprinted image, a shadow of where their body has been and is a visually satisfying moment.

The work has a distinct cinematic style to it. The transitions between sections are sharp, as if we are cutting to different scenes in a movie. This is highlighted with the everchanging and often haunting music of Pink Floyd, giving a sense of unease as if we are watching a thriller. I take my hat off to the lighting designer Jazmin Whittal. Her ability to create such clear shifts in energy with each change of lighting state really played well into this style and gave clear structure to the piece.

For me this work feels as if we have taken a snapshot of society, a moment in time in a corporate office where three vastly different people are thrown together. At one point I had an image of the characters being forced to do a group project together and having to navigate different ideas and opinions. The use of strong characters is an interesting one and makes me question throughout what it means to be authentic or whether hiding behind a personality can help or hinder us from connecting with others.

The music is obviously so distinctive and narrative in and of itself. I so enjoy how the movement compliments the music so much so that I notice specific emphasis or sounds in the music that I wouldn’t have otherwise. This is something I often so crave in the contemporary dance space and is refreshing to see. With such distinct music, I would have liked to maybe see a bit more personality/uniqueness within the costuming.

The moment where the dancers each embodied one another’s characters was unexpected and a nice shift, allowing for a bit of comedy to shine through. I think with more time the dancers would be able to dive deeper into each others characters, and be able to switch with a bit more clarity and distinction.

I was the most impressed with the sections that the dancers did in tandem. They all felt so responsive to one another, with effortless lifts, rolling in and out of each other with such ease. The unison moments were also deeply satisfying, with such a clear shared movement quality, despite these dancers having not danced together prior to this project (I believe). What comes through is Holly’s commitment to her own movement vocabulary. Everything felt of the same world and the movement itself was unique and highly charged.

I applaud Holly for her bravery in producing a work during a time that is so challenging to financially present art. I know that the final creation phase of this show was quite condensed which made me even more impressed by the quality at which this show was presented. It seems like a work they had been rehearsing over a number of months, not weeks. This is a testament to the skills of her dancers, as well as Holly’s own commitment and clarity in her vision.

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