Review of Eden Dance Company's Performance

I went to see the Eden Dance Company perform ‘Where is the Garden?’ on the 10th December. Before entering the performance space, the audience were asked to make a journey through and around the dancers, and then to sit down. While we were doing this, we could see each dancer exploring an aspect of the space. Bird song music was playing in the background, and this immediately made me think of nature and being outside. The area was filled with large pieces of fabric and plastic. There was a heap of fur coats and eleven pairs of wellingtons neatly lined up by the door.
All eleven female dancers were dressed in simple, green and light pink dresses, with beige and pink coloured t-shirts underneath. The combination of colours was very effective and complimented the naturalistic music.
I noticed the dancers took it in turns to feel the walls and textures of the materials. Suddenly one dancer made a circular flowing arm movement above their head. This movement was repeated by the other dancers.
All of the dancers then began to explore the clear, plastic sheets. Lots of interesting shapes were created when the dancers expanded, pulled, moved and stretched the material. Eventually each person was underneath and covered in the plastic. The dancers and music stopped and everything was completely silent and still. This made me think of animals hibernating and also reminded me of the cocoon process of a caterpillar growing into a butterfly. They then all emerged from the wrapping and performed lots of energetic movement. This could suggest fresh starts and new life and beginnings.
The dancers walked over to the pile of fur coats and wellingtons. They each put on their own coat and footwear. This was a signal to the audience that we were then going on a journey somewhere else.
We were lead out of the Ellen Terry Building and walked to the outside of Coventry Cathedral. The dancers explored the space with energetic jumps, leaps and turns. The performance ended with all the dancers huddled on the Cathedral steps.