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Five footballers faced off against five incredible dancers at Toxteth’s FireFit Hub this past Sunday night.
The Match, a contemporary dance performance, created by Spanish choreographer Vero Cendoya was being performed in the UK for the first time.
Set up as a five a side football match with five men facing five women, the piece uses a mixture of recognised football drills and skills alongside contemporary dance moves.
The performers interact in an emotive, almost beautiful way that really captures the attention of the audience.
The combination of the two different aspects has allowed Cendoya and her performers to create a truly unique piece of theatre.
It is interesting and funny while also addressing serious current issues throughout, with references to gender equality and homophobia amongst others.
Watching from ‘the stands’, it gives the production a different feel to other performances and the use of Liverpool youngsters as supporters of each side gave it a local feel.
Cendoya uses the football referee as a symbol of unity amongst the fans, explaining that the only universal thought in football is one of hating the referee.
Towards the end of the piece, the fans join together and chant ‘people united, will never be defeated’.
This idea of togetherness features throughout the performance and the use of football, popular with so many people across the world, is a great way to bring this to light.
The piece is inspired by the film “The Referee”, directed by Paolo Zucca which follows the fortunes of lower league Italian football and an ambitious local referee.
The Match has toured and sold out venues over Europe and in South America.
It was in Liverpool as part of On the Verge Festival run by Hope Street Limited.
The production has been very successful and has already received national recognition in Spain having been awarded the Critics Award for Best Street Art Performance and Best Performance at the Fir de Tarrega Festival
It has also been nominated for the most prestigious theatre awards in Spain – The *MAX Awards- in three categories: Best Cast, Best Show Revelation, and Best Authorship Revelation.