Review of ‘Chimeras’: “An illusiory experience brings an illusion of a show”

London’s Reference.Point hosted this one-night-only performance blending contemporary dance with conceptual art within an immersive atmosphere. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the show, to let us know if this oniric creation feels either unreal or delusional.

What defines true art? Is it the kind that appeals to what we know we like? Or is it, instead, the one that challenges us and defies the creative status quo of the moment? It’s often said that the greatest masterpieces are the ones that break the rules. But if that were to happen, those rules have to be given some credit in the first place.

I’m not trying to mess with your mind – you’ve already taken care of that yourself. But it’s interesting to see how the same work, through time, can stand on a different side of the line separating the good and the rousing from the banal and forgettable. Some authors can take solace in the fact that their efforts are ahead of their contemporaries. Others, though, just use it as a cheap argument in a desperate attempt not to admit defeat.

The reason why I’m getting so metaphysical is because I’m a genius. But also because those were the immediate thoughts that came to my mind last Saturday, as I attended the one-night-only performance of Chimeras. An immersive dance montage blending 60s-retro visuals with Middle Eastern folkloric sounds, the show drags audiences into a parallel universe built upon surrealistic symbolism. There’s no story but the one the viewers themselves can create. No guiding thread apart from the troupers’ vacillating interactions. And no meaning but the one that you, as an individual, are willing to give to it.

There’s no question about the experimental value of the production – just like there’s no wonder about its commercial viability. It’s obviously not for everyone. But regardless of how niche its premise might be, the possibilities held within it are still large. To some extent, the company manages to do them justice: when the act properly begins, it unleashes enough aesthetic allure to make of it, even it’s only partial, an arresting journey. However, too much potential remains stranded – to the point of betraying its own principles in some manner.

An alternative, bohemian-scented prelude wanders into a not-so-edgy final delivery – where, despite the artistes moving along the aisles as they come in and out of the stage, still feels too adjacent to a regular proscenium execution. It makes little sense to stay so close to the norm where its general vibe gives precisely the opposite impression – especially when the solution lies so vividly before our eyes: this should not be a sit-and-watch type of show, but a walk-through experience where guests set up the structure, rhythm, and eventually, the whole course.

There are no critical words for the renditions per se – most of them are carried out with sufficient quality and autonomy. Yet, we can appreciate it some slight lack of flair hovering around – an issue most probably stemming from the constrained elements the staging displays. It’s a concoction that longs for better independence; to break away from the chains of tradition and come up with some which, though perhaps not the most innovative, can still flaunt some uniqueness. Sadly, though, we are only offered a few hints of that personality, as the work keeps floating in self-discovery limbo, struggling to find its own.

Chimeras will never be a finished product by its own standards. That’s, in some way, the magic of it. But it should always aim to be a fully assembled one. Grounded in an appealing concept, with enough potential to make of it something more striking, rich, and visceral than just its well-ornamented facade, the piece has all the tools to evolve from a vaporous, not-too-eloquent fantasy into a solid dreamlike reality. It’s a colourful, vibrant sketch of awe and inspiration. But as of now, all that expected grandeur is primarily a mirage.

By Guillermo Nazara