ZumZum·Ka is an open, enriching dialogue, which is visual in at least two senses. It is like an eye probing the subtle distinctions between reality and fiction. And it explores the power of a look - the kind of look that fixes and is captivated by an object of desire. ZumZum·Ka invites you to trust your imagination more than the realistic observation of things.

Its creation is primarily owed to another collaboration between Gelabert and painter/set designer Frederic Amat, who have known each other since early youth. They were later joined in developing the work by the French composer Pascal Comelade, who has written an original score. The inspirational poetry of Patrick Gifreu adds yet another enriching element to this artistic union.

Amat has created a cold set design suggesting an ice-rink with an infinite horizon. This endless space is bordered by dark fringes and small flags. They limit the freedom of the men and women who slip and slide on the dizzy trampoline of life. The trampoline, which is actually on set, can never be ignored, suggesting risk, suspension, and fall.

Gelabert appears as a birdman with his beak illuminated. He is the man Ka - a free being and the master of ceremonies for this dreamy ritual. The harsh light that envelops the scene emphasises the poetic images which come from the inter-relation between the dancers - three men and four women. The dance is fluid, the dancers glide like ethereal ice-skaters.

For Amat and Gelabert the shape of the letter K is symbolic of the 20th century, reminding them of contemporary artists Kafka, Kandinsky or Klee. It is also sculpturally beautiful, inspiring interlacing gestures, particularly of the arms. Large rubber gloves, a dog-woman or an illuminated beak are simple elements to provoke the audience with the poetry and eroticism of everyday objects. The charged and highly cinematographic music of Comelade evokes a nostalgic world, recreating and echoing melodious past experiences, of circuses and fairgrounds.

ZumZum·Ka is a diaphanous show - in that beneath the variety of forms created by Gelabert, Amat and Comelade lies, right from the start, a perturbing anxiety at the irretrievable distance between reality and dreams. It is an anxiety as much in dance and movement as in their eyes.

CARMEN DEL VAL