Marc Brew and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: An Accident/A Life – review – brutal and tender | Dance

NNot quite dance, not quite theatre, An Accident/A Life is more of a multimedia, nauseatingly hallucinatory staging of a story centred on the body of a dancer. That dancer is Marc Brew, and the story deals with the traumatic turning point in his life when, early in his ballet career, the car he was in was hit by a drunk driver. All three of his companions died; Brew survived but was left paralyzed at age 20. The story he tells is harrowing, touching, brutal and tender, but what makes this seem like a work of almost classical tragedy – you will definitely experience fear, pity and catharsis – is his remarkably unclassical treatment of the staging, the body and his voice.

The set is simple, symmetrical, and devastatingly effective: Two screens flank a car that initially sits motionless on the ground and is later hoisted up to hang precariously above the stage, like a traumatic memory that dictates everything around it. Two figures in crash dummy costumes serve as both supporting characters (doctors, nurses, even alter egos of Brew’s fragmented self) and stagehands, moving around parts of the set or using handheld cameras to relay scenes to the screens.

In the ambulance and hospital scenes in particular, these video projections break down into kaleidoscopic fragments of faces and colors—drug-like geometries that find their counterpart in the diamond folds of Brew’s motionless but hyperflexible legs, which he manipulates into lopsided formations. His body remains the focus throughout, whether he’s discovering his own abilities while exploring—both physically and mentally—a therapist’s couch, or wearing a costume that depicts the skeleton beneath. His voice remains preternaturally calm: rather than expressing his story, Brew tells it from a safe emotional distance—a disturbingly dissociative effect that reflects the response to trauma.

Brew had previously created two autobiographical solos, one about a lost past and the other about recovery. An Accident/A Life now deals with the car accident itself. Interestingly, and perhaps crucially, Brew is not the author but a contributor to this story: the piece is directed by Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, who brings his extensive experience of working with different bodies and genres to this outstanding work. It must surely have been therapeutic for Brew; as a piece of theatre, it is also sensitive, insightful and cathartic for us.