Icosa A dance company

Autumn 2026

Held

A duet that barely travels. Two bodies, five reaches, eighteen minutes.

First performed
2,025
Running time
18 minutes
Dancers
2
Music
Caroline Shaw, Plan & Elevation
Travelled
4.2 radii

The notation for this piece is five directions long and three of them are the same one. Almost all of the material is in what happens between two reaches rather than at them, which is why the recorded path is so short and the running time is not.

High right — Door plane High right High left — Door plane High left Deep right — Door plane Deep left — Door plane Forward high — Wheel plane Forward high Forward deep — Wheel plane Back high — Wheel plane Back deep — Wheel plane Right forward — Table plane Right back — Table plane Left forward — Table plane Left back — Table plane

The phrase, written down

5 reaches · 80% of them in the door plane · 4.2 radii travelled

  1. High left Door plane start
  2. High right Door plane 1.05
  3. High left Door plane 1.05
  4. Forward high Wheel plane 1.05
  5. High left Door plane 1.05

The last column is the straight-line distance from the previous reach, in kinesphere radii. Two is right across the body; the shortest possible step between two of the twelve is 1.05.

How it is danced

Basic Effort Action

Press

Strong, sustained, direct. Moving something that does not want to move.

Weight
Light Strong
How much the body commits its mass. Not how hard the dancer works.
Time
Sustained Sudden
The attitude to time, not the tempo. A slow piece can be full of suddenness.
Space
Indirect Direct
Whether attention goes everywhere at once or to one place.
Flow
Free Bound
How readily the movement could be stopped half way. Not part of the action names.

Also in the repertoire