The party has started on stage before we’ve even sat down. A group gathered round a drummer, vibing together in shorts, T-shirts and smiles. They are dancers of Cia Suave from the favelas of Rio, bringing the youthful energy of the Carioca party scene to the stage. But with choreographer Alice Ripoll at the helm, it’s a favela party put through an avant garde filter.
Once the lights go down this is an after party, or an after-after party, at the point in the early morning where everyone’s in their own world: someone’s popping the confetti balloons, one guy’s got his kit off, a bunch of people are lying on the floor and someone’s hogging the attention, twerking in her sparkly catsuit (this dancer has some serious glute control).
These freeform scenes are interrupted by bursts of blistering movement to bass-heavy music, mostly Brazilian passinho dance with its fast-stepping footwork, tight rhythms and feet pouncing on the beat. The dancers are incredible: so sharp, so fleet, such feisty energy, launching themselves in the air. They’re frenetic but utterly exact. It’s strong, joyful movement, bonding the group together.
In the in-between sections, individuals take meandering paths and the party dances get a bit deconstructed – hip-hop, funk, samba, vogueing all part of the mix – with increasing amounts of glitter and baubles strewn across floor. Part of the story behind the piece is supposed to be about reinvention and hope, the transition between Bolsonaro’s right-wing government and president Lula. But it feels less like a celebration more a place of limbo, the party staggering towards dawn, not yet knowing what the morning will bring. Perhaps that’s how it feels: short blazes of hope, unity, triumph, but the reality’s more complicated. Zona Franca means “free zone”, and dancing is a way to let loose, feel free, when life is restricted.
The piece is a distillation of young lives, in light and darkness – love, sex, friendship, politics, identity, social media – but it’s so open ended that it lacks emotional heft. The concept and all the surrounding action just isn’t as exciting as the dance itself.
• At Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, until 4 November
