The Information on Meryl Tankard's `Furioso'

Who Is She?

Meryl Tankard is a feisty Australian and an accomplished performer, who used to dance with Pina Bausch in the 1980s, and who has since established herself as a choreographer. In fact, she has been hailed as "the hottest choreographer emerging on the international dance scene". She has been director of Australian Dance Theatre since 1993; this is her first and last London run with the company.

What Is It?

An intensely physical and athletic hour-long piece of dance-theatre that explores male-female relations and is set to brooding music by Gorecki and Arvo Part. The show is most notable for its use of flying ropes.

What They Say About It

"The trapeze pas de deux in which the women fly like fairground angels around their partners' shoulders, would make any floorbound choreographer weep," Judith Mackrell, The Guardian.

"The sexual posing remains so artificial and so doggedly humourless that it doesn't strike any genuine notes about the human condition," Ismene Brown, The Daily Telegraph.

"Tankard's athletic language... can seem repetitive in its reliance on body rolls and spins. But it also possesses a charge that when ignited, can transmit feeling with the force of a fist or the stroke of a velvet glove," Debra Craine, The Times.

Where You Can See It

Furioso is at Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Ave, London EC1 (0171-863 8000) ends tomorrow