Surfing

Back in May, British dancer turned recording artist FKA twigs came to Berlin’s Uber Eats Arena as part of EUSEXUA—the tour for her latest album, described as her most “techno” and “hardcore dance” influenced record to date. The show was a far cry from what I’m used to attending as a contemporary dance critic: auditorium seating was replaced by screaming fans dancing along with the sharp, isolated movements of the onstage dancers. Wearing baggy leather pants and ripped mesh tops revealing bare flesh, the performers spread and windmilled their legs while seated on chairs scattered across an industrial, Meccano-like structure. At other moments, they formed tight phalanxes around twigs as she sang in place, slicing their arms into semaphore-like positions in militaristic unison.