There is no doubting the energy and commitment the 10 dancers brought to the performance on May 18, but the piece takes itself a little too seriously. It is standard contemporary dance fare and certainly does not resemble a musical; and it never quite captures the joyous exuberance of the 1980s at their best.
Gat’s choreography – created with the dancers – is effective in places, notably contrasting slow or fast movement by an individual dancer with a group doing the opposite, and the score alternates intriguingly between the big, anthemic Tears for Fears songs and passages of silence.
Two sections stand out for their genuine response to the music and their original, creative choreography: Mad World, which featured a thrilling extended solo from Abel Rojo, whose speed, control and musicality were outstanding, and an intelligent, inventive treatment of Shout, led powerfully by Michael Löhr.
However, the overall vocabulary of movement is limited – there are way too many waggling hips and endless high kicks – and soon becomes repetitive. At 30 minutes, the piece would be enjoyable; at 75 minutes it outstayed its welcome.
The lighting, designed by Gat himself, is strangely dim, so much so that at times the dancers could not be seen clearly, even when they were at the front of the stage. This was clearly deliberate, yet opting to obscure rather than illuminate so much of the action is a head-scratcher.
The costumes, designed by Thomas Bradley, are another odd choice: bizarre creations which drape the dancers in elaborate swags of various textiles in a kaleidoscope of colours, with a different costume for each dancer.
Perhaps using so much fabric is intended to create a sculptural effect, but costumes for dance need to give freedom of movement and reveal the lines of the body.
Here they kept getting in the way (the men, in particular, had to keep hitching up their long skirts to perform their steps), and ended up distracting from the dance rather than enhancing it.
At one point, parts of the costumes were in fact removed, leaving the dancers in an unflattering assortment of underwear, although they had resumed their draperies by the end.
“LoveTrain2020”, Emanuel Gat Dance Company, presented by the French May Arts Festival, Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium, 12 Hing Ning Road, Kwan Chung, New Territories. Reviewed: May 18.