Les Ballets C de la B – review

The dance stage has seen few more fascinating casts than the transvestite and transsexual cabaret artists who perform in Gardenia , Alain Platel 's latest work for Ballets C de la B . Aged from 55 and 65, these artists carry a world of stories in their fallen faces and bodies – and a world of conflicted sexual identity. It's this identity that Platel and his co-director Frank Van Laecke skilfully unravel in the opening scenes. The cast first appear in suits, striking "casually" masculine attitudes, yet they seem overpowered by their male attire. It proves hypnotic: to a poignant soundtrack ( La Traviata , Forever Young ), they gradually change into female dress – frocks, high heels, makeup, wigs. The more artificial the look, the more natural it appears, as their gait becomes confident and their gaze direct. They visibly shed years. The clothes swap is a simple device, and a revealing one. But it operates on a level of signals and signs, and the show's frustrating limitation is its failure to probe the stories beneath the surface. There's a scattering of human vignettes: the artists perform songs and gags, mostly filthy, from their former routines. They watch avidly as the one young male (and non-trans) in the cast flexes his beautiful body, but are curiously withdrawn when he tries to communicate emotionally with them. Only the one (biological) woman in the cast seems able to listen. None of this goes deep enough, however, or focuses clearly on individual detail. The final scene is very touching, as the cast parade their full-on cabaret personas ( Judy Garland , Liza Minnelli et al). But as they take their bows, there is still so much more about them we want to know.