Dancers are skilled at hiding the physical and mental toll of their craft. In NO IM NOT, the Cypriot choreographer Panos Malactos sets out to expose it: He puts a trio of performers through their paces in high-kicking aerobics sequences, followed by pretzel-like contortions on the floor. From time to time, the music stops, and we hear their weary panting as they try to catch their breath.
In a recorded voice message, a female dancer reflects on ‘toxic’ work environments that left her ‘traumatised’ – yet ‘satisfied within’, an inner contradiction that the show never returns to. The bewigged cast then lip-syncs to a pop song by TEO.x3, generically calling out male abusers.
NO IM NOT means well, but there is no escaping the fact that Malactos, a male choreographer, is asking three women – Styliana Apostolou, Natalia Vasiliki Vagena and Melina Sofocleous – to dance themselves to exhaustion in service of a demonstration that ultimately feels muddled. That, too, is a gendered power structure. Perhaps Malactos could address it next – with women as co-creators.
Panos Malactos’ NO IM NOT starts off strong. Three women aggressively throw themselves around the stage. Extreme flexibility turns into acrobatics, with isolated limbs slicing through space. The intense physicality is captivating, but you hear the dancers’ intense exhaustion build as they breathe hard, pushing their physical limits. It’s the twofold reality of being a dancer, and NO IM NOT highlights the working conditions of dancers today: toxic choreographers, physical fatigue and the toll it all takes on mental health.
But there is a stark shift in the second half, as the trio ride scooters and put on wigs to imitate a girl group. While the change of pace is entertaining and the parody pop song cleverly speaks to the theme of the piece, Malactos doesn’t commit nearly enough to the bit or to the choreography. When NO IM NOT stopped taking itself seriously, sadly, I did the same.
Mental health issues, burnout and toxic work relationships culture are increasingly in the public spotlight. In NO IM NOT, Panos Malactos addresses power dynamics in the dance field through the lens of pop culture.
The performance begins in dystopically cold strobe lighting. Marionette-like dancers dressed for a rave party fold and unfold their limbs, filling the stage with vigorous acrobatics and competitive disco-style showdance, exhausting themselves breathlessly.
NO IM NOT shows the physical challenges specific to a dancer’s profession, but contrary to Malactos’s stated aim, not so much the psychological pressure or mental manipulation. A slow interlude interrupts the techno-rave as dancers drift across the stage to Saint-Saëns’ The Dying Swan, hinting at the transience of dance and the self-sacrifice it demands. We hear a dancer reflect on exhausting creative processes driven by a toxic capitalist mentality – and, controversially, she describes them as strangely rewarding. The piece culminates in a strangely underdeveloped lip-sync scene criticising burnout culture. Instead of maximising its hyperpop aesthetics and choreography, it remains somewhat subdued. The piece promised much, but the message never quite lands.
NO IM NOT by Panos Malactos hits the ground running. Three dancers with knee pads move like loose-jointed Barbie dolls from a limited collection: Barbie-Acrobat.
They hurl themselves down on the floor, rolling around the stage. Obeying the mad rhythm, they twist their bodies in every direction, frantically. Legs fly like helicopter blades: They tumble and jump so hard that it could be a fitness competition. But when the music stopped at Spring Forward, the audience could hear hard, laboured breathing. Their ease didn’t come so easily.
NO IM NOT is an attempt to reflect toxic relationships within the industry, but the method Malactos chose left me with mixed feelings. There is audio testimony from a dancer looking back at her professional experience, paired with an ironic song about a loser-abuser, yet they add to the confusion: are we laughing at ‘the toxics’, or at those who speak out about them?