Ours was the Fen Country

Rising water levels has been an unavoidable subject over the last few years. Every year, we seem to witness more localised flooding, either through over-reportage or (more worryingly) more frequent occurrences. More pressingly however is the idea that we have come to completely disregard and harm our organic landscapes. Urbanisation, commercialisation – these are the demons of the untamed wild.

One such environment is the Fenlands, containing some of the most low-lying areas of the UK. Dan Canham and Still House have interviewed local people to rediscover the local beauty, integrating recorded conversations with a gorgeously understated and interpretive dance piece. Neil Paris, Neil Callaghan, Tilly Webber and Canham himself present a very honest work, of occasionally aching grace that realises the restful, calming experience of walking the Fenland moors and riversides.

But this piece feels trivial; the performers talk over original recordings to deliver “truthful” conversations about the history of the Fenlands, but it would perhaps come to life had they used this dialogue for greater artistic vision. The company use projection and playback to turn this into a semi-multimedia piece, but why not adopt the medium fully? There’s an opportunity to explore the Fenlands through more than just dance and reiteration, either using video footage or more detailed analyses of the area’s history. This could be a mesmerising piece of dance if it was supported by a more interesting creative framework, instead of relying too openly on its written research.