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Hotel reviews
DON’T MISS HOTEL AT THE MARKET THEATRE – ONLY UNTIL 9TH OCTOBER!
Some extracts of what the press wrote:
Check in to Hotel - Gayle Edmunds: City Press. 2nd October 2010
Hotel is crazy absurd and sublime, and it was love at first step for me… Mark Hawkins’ Hotel chased away any fears of “not getting it” within minutes as the manic ringmaster and his leering assistant welcomed me – and the rest of the audience to “the hotel of the mind”.
Using the disciplined, incredibly flexible and perfectly honed bodies of the dancers from Moving into Dance Mophatong the mind-bending journey began. …The dancers perform a series of vignettes… Each represents a state of mind, an emotion or subconscious moment.. From inspiration and sexual desire to taboo and beyond, Hawkins’ steps lead the audience down a merry path –with oodles of bizarre lay-bys – that will make you laugh and gasp in awe at what these bodies can do.
So often with contemporary dance it looks Spartan – this one doesn’t. It boasts a new set, multimedia and sumptuous costumes. There is something for everyone in this Hotel, so check in and check out.
Room service with a twist - Adrienne Sichel: The Star Tonight, 29th September 2011
Hawkins sense of humour and dance history is everywhere…Sonia Radebe’s desperate bride evokes the daisy-plucking Giselle – only she doesn’t go mad, she gets a gun. Shili’s warrior swan bourreès beautifully on a raised bench to Philip Miller and Neo Muyanga’s Ave Maria, while theatricality triumphs in Tshabalala’ brilliantly chilling fan dance.
Hotel of Life with surprises - Tammy Ballantyne: Artslink, 29th Sept 2011
From Julia Burnham’s hilarious send-up of room service complete with gigantic, towering headdress made of tea towels to Sonia Radebe’s jilted bride, Hawkins’ own stories, references and history are present as we go on a roller-coaster journey informed by Philip Miller and Neo Muyanga’s divine compositions……
Hawkins’ knack for juxtaposing the familiar with the odd and the quirky, keeps the surprise element alive; the unexpected is always around the corner….
Hotel serves us up with a taste of the bitter-sweet, the comic, the haphazard, the fantasies we all live out in secret. Most of us left with a twinkle in our eyes and a smile playing at the corners of our mouths.
Hotel has a powerful impact: Moira de Swardt: Artlink, 28th September 2011
“Hotel” is a sassy, sexy, sleazy and even sinful slice of hotel life. I loved it! Each sketch is a peek into the sassy, the sexy, the sleazy and the sinful …Again the impact of the homo-erotic scene was one of the most stunning. The choreography here is the most beautiful of the work and the sensitivity with which it is executed stands out brilliantly against the insensitivity of the soundtrack with its fifties anti-gay tirade. The contrast between humour and pathos forms the climax of the work.
Sylvia Magogo Glasser can be proud of the work her company is doing with choreographer, Mark Hawkins, composer, Philip Miller, designer, Andrew Botha, costume creator, Robyn de Klerk and lighting engineer, Nicholas Michaletos.
Welcome to the “Hotel” of the mind.” It has a powerful impact. This is one contemporary dance piece which everyone should see.
Hotel is on at The Market Theatre’s Main Theatre until October 9th. Phone 011 832 1641 to book.
