Dance Peas

Ollie Smith

Figs in Wigs pulled the rug (and then some) with their left-field-dance-marathon-cum-world-record-attempt-with-peas. –

The performers were made up to resemble what I imagine quintuplets born of Frida Kahlo and an Oompa Loompa would look like: intense, smart, slick and very funny.

Dance Peas is structured around one dance (imagine the world’s most complicated Macarena) which is repeated as each performer – or competitor – takes a turn to try and break the world record for most peas eaten with a cocktail stick in three minutes. With each repetition, Figs in Wigs deconstruct their own routine, riffing on cheerleaders, MTV, aerobics classes and home exercise videos as they go. As this deadpan contest progresses so does a slightly unsettling sense of rivalry – a bloody thirst to win.

As a resident of the fine city of Nottingham, I couldn’t help but swell with pride as the punchline of the piece was revealed. We were informed that my fellow Notts citizen Mat Hand (apparently) holds said world record for most peas eaten with a cocktail stick in three minutes – and for one of our own to be offered such a wry and wonderfully executed homage as Dance Peas is as awesome as it is hilarious. It’s not just Robin Hood and gun crime that hails from the jewel of the East Midlands. We’ve got the pea man too. Cheers for the shout-out, duckehs.

Dance Peas is a fun, accessible and borderline hysterical triumph.