Flamenco is traditionally a dance of passion that can often be quite serious, so it is with great delight that Malaje turns out to be a passion-filled riot instead. Spanish Guitar, drums and clapping are the soundtrack to this sparse production with multi-talented performers melting seamlessly from dancing flamenco to juggling to acrobatics. Physical comedy is used to great effect to assist defining the characters with comic value, sensuality and enthusiasm. The two men and women who are the main performers, use their entire bodies to convey their characters and to create scenes using sounds and minimal wording.
One of the females is more of a comedy foil performer, highly engaging in her use of physical performance and dance, while the other portrays a flamenco diva. The men are passion fuelled dancers, one skilled in acrobatics (wait til he removes his shirt…!) the other in juggling. The performers vie for each other’s affections and they are constantly rebuffed until they try harder and succeed. The males mock-fight and the females parody each other’s behaviour behind their backs with total self-conscious abandon.
The audience feels welcome into a kind of private celebration and are completely engaged and enthralled by the onstage antics taking place. The audience is left with a feel-good factor in a party atmosphere- well worth seeing this fun for all ages piece of circus theatre. Olé!
5/5 
Catriona Ruth Paterson
(4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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