Born of an exchange between Ireland-based Iseli-Chiodi dance company and Mexican company Lux Boreal, Fit/Misfit is a quietly witty study of individual identity and belonging. Housed in the expansive upstairs space of Smock Alley Theatre, the piece tears through a diverse range of tones and attitudes, always slightly arch, and underpinned throughout by choreographic motifs.

Riffing on the stylised aspects of classic film genres (the spaghetti western in particular), Fit/Misfit plays with the idea of adopted identities, blurring the line between characters taken on for performance and those that are perhaps less-consciously adopted on a day-to-day basis.

Adopted characters are communicated through zany costumes that the four performers gradually array themselves in as the piece progresses. Overtly theatrical and outlandish, the assumed characters jar against the consistent backdrop of live filmic music (courtesy of Cork-based band Horsemen Pass By) and repeated movement sequences. The dancers are perplexed and ill at ease as they try to negotiate a familiar sound and movement landscape in a new skin.

Displaying some interesting textures and surprising moments, the choreography is tightly-paced and intricate, with extended contact sequences that momentarily tie the dancers up in knots before they deftly disentangle themselves.

As a whole, the performance is given depth by the fullness of the dancers’ slapstick individual characters that yet communicate vulnerability. This undertone of emotional fragility is an apt counterpoint to the astutely-timed humour elsewhere in the performance. A fully-rounded work, Fit/Misfit is contemporary dance that is slick, witty and sympathetic all at once.

Star rating: ★★★★