Anna by Laboration Arts Company – Istrian National Theatre, Pula, Croatia

Laura Arendt and Alex Blondeau dance as a duo, in a piece that pays tribute to five forgotten German women: nuclear physicist Lise Meitner, anti-Nazi activist Sophie Schloss, racing driver Clärenore Stinnes, composer Clara Schumann, and choreographer Pina Bausch. While the concept sounds unwieldly, the dance is anything but: flowing, varied and constantly compelling. Performing in a stage ringed by light, the pair beautifully together, at one point almost becoming a single dancer. Anna packs a remarkable amount of exceptional dance into 40 minutes, and responds to the lives of the five fascinating women in a way that is never literal, but moving, funny and inventive. Contemporary dance of a very high standard,