REVIEW: Jazz Andrew's 'Let Her Go'

Student Dance Platform

Michaelis Theatre

University of Roehampton

Sunday 3^rd May 2015

Thrown into a shadowy realm of sunburnt silhouettes and sunsets, Jazz Andrew’s Let Her Go seems to sum up the pain and tenderness of young love. While Passenger’s folk-pop Underwater Bride reflects on keeping everything ‘locked into memory’, Andrew’s intricate gestural detail and ebbing momentum also appears like a tape of childhood memories.

Typically of Andrews, her carefully constructed formations reflect the elegant orchestration of her dancers’ bodies, as they roll, fall and twist. Their arms unfurl, thrashing and clutching at the air. All eight dancers move with precision and clear, calm intention- a manifestation of Andrews’ confidence in the themes and emotion behind her work.

Although Let Her Go uses a great deal of unison, moments of solo, canon and stillness create different stories for each dancer. Dancing alone in one corner of the stage, as others watch on, each individual seems nostalgic of a time before, as if longing for someone or something. Simultaneous acceptance and anguish also seems to be a theme that threads through Let Her Go.

Overall, Andrews’ Let Her Go is a moving piece of dance that especially reaches out to young adults. Andrews’ choreographic commitment to the imagery of Passenger’s lyrics further emphasises the themes of loss, pain and longing within the stories of each dancer. With references to these universal struggles, Andrews’ choreography c