Thick & Tight: Natural Behaviour review – giddy cabaret with a turn from Donald the orange panto horse
It was the comment on Katy Perry's space flight you didn't know you needed. Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry (AKA Thick & Tight) dressed as flies on the wall of the Blue Origin space shuttle, costumes made of black bin bags and pipe cleaners, listening to Katy blather about her connection to the universe. How much can they stand before pressing the giant red 'Eject' button that sits in front of them?
How to describe what Thick & Tight do? They trained as dancers, but their work is more like cabaret, or dance-theatre sketches. Sometimes there's text, lip-syncing, imitations of real-life personalities; the absurd and the deadly serious live side-by-side; it can be hugely poignant and hugely silly, a belly laugh or a lump in the throat, a cry against climate change, or Hay-Gordon and Perry disco dancing dressed as Donald Trump in the shape of a bright orange pantomime horse talking out of its bottom.
The pair's identity as queer performers is at the heart of Natural Behaviour, questioning what is deemed 'natural' in society and nature (tribute is paid to the 1970s study that found Californian seagulls nesting in female pairs, which shook up some of those ideas). They embody people, flora and fauna with outsider status, joined by guest performers including disabled dance groups Corali and Camberwell Incredibles. There are voiceover descriptions at the beginning of each section, describing the performers and what they're going to do. It's for inclusivity and accessibility, but is effective at giving everybody an in, directly connecting us to the dancers with a key to sometimes avant garde ideas, whether Annie Edwards dancing an endangered nightingale (and a curlew, swallow and white-tailed eagle) with neat feet and swiftly turning spirals; Perry as a blade of grass; or Jahmarley Bachelor in an ode to the dust in Quentin Crisp's flat.
Two standout turns: charismatic Azara Meghie throwing in some hip-hop to her embodiment of James Baldwin, with his wise words played in voiceover, and Hay-Gordon's dance of remembrance set to Brahms. On theme, Hay-Gordon is one of most natural dancers you'll ever see; dancing is absolutely innate for him, and it's transfixing to watch him deeply inside the music. This is a show that's rich, thoughtful, ridiculous and quite wonderful.
At Battersea Arts Centre, London, until 7 June then at the Lowry, Salford, 10-11 June
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