For those who remember teetering around in extreme platform shoes in the 1970s – and, ironically, observing their resurgence as today’s ‘retro’ fashion – the idea of wanting to dance in an even more exaggerated version of the footwear is hard to imagine. Yet in aKabi , the second half of the ‘Not Just the Classics’ programme at the National Museum, Turkish choreographer Aydin Teker’s dancers have embraced the challenge. They strut, prance and crawl with an erotic, animalistic fluidity in specially made shoes that prove a cumbersome addition to the body. Under Teker’s direction, the dancers explore movement within the limitations of these props. They balance on their toes, stomp about, squat and struggle to keep their balance, sometimes hovering on the edge of a precipice created by the shoes. These risky manoeuvres make for a compelling dance performance and question traditional notions of ‘beauty’ and the body. 

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