Song Im Hee: 1°C Review – A ragtag band unites to call for climate reset | platform

ePraising the show for the changes to its scene might seem harsh with the slightest praise. But South Korean choreographer Song Im Hir’s exhilarating sequences for Paradise Now! At the Bush Theater in 2022, they were not only strikingly inventive, but also perfectly attuned to playwright Margaret Berry’s satire.

Along with kinetic stage direction, her dance performances take into account the impact of social media and the #MeToo campaign in her home country. Now she confronts another major issue, the climate crisis, in the Southbank Centre’s Konsti performance series.

In a solo introduction, she silently creeps onto the barren stage, gradually exposing her body. From a compact state, it swung at a canter around the perimeter, starkly illuminated by a captivating network of lamps. This individual transformation heralds a collective transformation as the choreographer exits, replaced by six dancers who initially give in under the weight of the world. They veer from inertia to frustrated intentions, huddling limply under the spotlight as if they have been cast adrift. While they are wearing shirts and pants, the similarity is to those images of polar bears on shrinking icebergs.

Mio Jue’s costumes include scraps of silver, giving this ragtag ensemble the look of survivors amid the miserable wreckage. Gradually they come together to face a problem that has overwhelmed them. It is a compelling call to replace climate anxiety with collaborative action. Accordingly, Husk Husk and Lucy Duncan’s score moves from muddled and spectral, with a glimmer of hope, to startlingly pulsating as the intensity builds and the band paces with straight backs, carrying body beats and mobilizations to the occasional danceable scream. Most importantly, the performers not only appear to be keeping up with each other, but learning from each other.

As their arms are raised and thrown down as they release, there is a feeling of not only letting go of fear but also holding on to joy and this key is similarly conveyed through Young Uk Lee’s lighting. The piece suggests that we need to roll up our sleeves, but also let our hair down.

There is a cognitive coda and a general coldness that can feel limiting. But what it lacks in sweep and emotion it mostly makes up for in the urgent need for a collective reset as these bodies, this group of people, prove more resilient than they first seemed.