How queer the celebratory finale of Ham & Passion: A Triple Bill of Dance by Carlos Pons Guerra sounds on paper: a foursome involving a dominant-submissive pairing, an iberico ham and a drag Virgin Mary. Its queerness is key to its success, as is the case for much of the material on offer here.
The provocation and confrontation inherent in queer (re)imaginings of familiar material is utilised well throughout Ham & Passion. The audience are encouraged to at least acknowledge, if not always overturn their own expectations, and challenged to try to apply a personal logic to the proceedings and their semiotics. What is primal? What is sex? How might masculinity be a performance?
The two short intervals mean each piece can be digested and dissected in the moment, and with performances so vital and unorthodox, this is a necessary gift.
Each dance has its pleasures, though it is only in that third and final piece that everything ‘clicks’ into place. Whether divine intervention provides clarity or not, the final dance is far funnier than the first two, and seems to have been calibrated much more effectively. It balances its comedy with iconoclasm, its provocation with spectacle and irony.
The production is well lit and the costuming is simple but with an appreciable level of detail. The final piece alone, set in 1950s Seville, with its consecrated cameo performance, makes attendance worth it.
An enjoyable evening at the MAC Birmingham was unspoilt by minor technical difficulties and warring audience members, who attempted a violent salsa during the curtain-call, so impassioned were they by the work. ★★★☆☆ Will Amott 26th February 2016
