Žigan Krajnčan and Gašper Kunšek: Alien Express

It’s commonplace for male dance duets to be based on conflict of some kind, but Žigan Krajnčan and Gašper Kunšek’s Alien Express is no common duet. Yes, it includes rivalry and oneupmanship – Kunšek clambering up Krajnčan’s spine to claim pole position, for example – but the flop-haired pair are more puppyish playmates than topdog contenders. Krajnčan’s jazzy humming – scrappy, intermittent and rather endearing – acts as a vocal counterpart to the improvisational dancing, with its raggle-taggle style, its tussles and its tendernesses. There’s cartoonish tomfoolery, mock-wrestling, a little salsa-styled handholding, touches of hair-ruffling. All body parts are up for grabs, but there’s no awkwardness of affect. Only in one scene, torsos convulsing as they slowly tear apart a tight embrace, is there a sense of real pain. Otherwise, the dynamic is all about conviviality, companionship and finally love. This is very disarming.