REVIEW: Breakin' Convention's Open Art Surgery

Breakin' Convention's Open Art Surgery
Hosted by Jonzi D, with DJ Psykhomantus
Lilian Baylis Studio - Sadler's Wells
Saturday 7th March 2015

Breakin' Convention's Open Art Surgery is an exciting opportunity for six young hip hop artists to dissect and sharpen their choreography. All six artists were given a week to devise a piece of dance under the guidance of hip hop mentors before Saturday's performance. As well as being a platform for performance, Open Art Surgery also provides the opportunity for invaluable audience feedback.

The show opened with The Rebirth Network's exploration of schizophrenia. The strength of the work lay in the beautifully structured opening. Choreographer, Daniel 7 sits alone on a chair, his intricate hand movements matching the complexity of the music. The rhythm changes abruptly, initiating a sequence of movements that seems to suggest a fracturing of his identity. The dancers clutch, touch and rub their ears, suggesting the characteristic hallucinations and voices associated with the condition. With the strength of the opening, and hopefully with an equally strong ending, Daniel 7's angst ridden discussion of personal turmoil is an insightful work.

Other brave performances included Xena Gusthart's emotional and intimate study of her brother's disability and the sacrifices and compromises involved. Xena's full bodied performance is enhanced by her bold speech, proclaiming that she can't wait to meet his wife, and his child. Until the tone changes, with her sorrowful and desperate demand that she 'can not wait' any longer, before quickly exiting the stage. Xena's moving work carries the important message of acceptance, which is universally understood by all.

During the second half, Tali & Jack presented another deeply moving piece delving into the issues of dysfunctional relationships and substance abuse. Simultaneous images of suffocation and desire thread throughout the dance. Tali and Jack entwine, interlace, tangle and weave around each other, their limbs sticking as their bodies slide across one another. The lyrics of Ella Fitzgerald's Fairy Tales helps unlock meaning and nuance in the carefully constructed choreography. Overall, an incredibly solid work, with a huge amount of depth and subtlety.

All six performances were considerably unique, bringing themes of struggle, youth, obsession, desire and pain. Comments from the audience were insightful, highlighting exactly how fresh and current each of the artist's ideas were. Finally, it seems there is nothing more sincere than the voice of our youth.

Artists include: The Rebirth Network, Xena Productions, Twin Peak, Tali & Jack, Ivan Blackstock, Sigh

FOOTPRINT DANCE FESTIVAL: What's Happening Now?

The deadline for choreographic work has passed! Artist directors, Hannah and Nia have worked through applications and watched candidate videos. Invitations to auditions have been sent out and the Footprint Dance Festival Committee are hard at work organising applicant auditions for Thursday 26th February. The committee have met with University of Roehampton Dance faculty and begun reaching out to sponsors. Additionally, Liz and Sophie are about to order Footprint t-shirts, so keep an eye out for Footprint clad people on campus soon!

Today, Emilie, Footprint's film and documentary manager, released the first of many promo videos, introducing the members of Footprint Core Committee. Take a look below:

In other news, Footprint Dance Festival has recently gained a new partnership with Wandsworth Council FRINGE Festival. Footprint has received funding to deliver a Community Dance project with local primary schools, which is great news for the festival.

Keep updated with Footprint Core Committee's progress on the festival on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and via the website!

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REVIEW: Sadler’s Wells The Associates: Kate Prince, Crystal Pite & Hofesh Shechter

Sadler's Wells
Thursday 5th February 2015


Sadler's Wells Associate Artists are central to the artistic direction and vision of the theatre, marking it as the leading venue in Britain for dance. Associate Artists have the opportunity to collaborate with other choreographers and artists to develop ideas for large-scale works. The triple bill produced tonight by Sadler’s Wells director Alastair Spalding presented three choreographers in the midst of choreographic changes. However, a clear gulf is apparent between Crystal Pite’s mysterious An Image Of You Falling and Kate Prince and Hofesh Shechter’s pieces, which felt limp and clumsy.


Directed by Prince, SMILE opened the evening with a seemingly light-hearted exploration of the ‘dark side’ of Charlie Chapin’s showman smile. Ridden with repetition and bland clichés of sad clowns, SMILE does little justice to dancer Tommy Franzén’s exceptional technical and performance abilities. The narrative drifts aimlessly through images of overt showmanship to deeply rooted sadness, without consideration for the reality of Chaplin’s complex psychology.

Additionally, Shechter’s The Barbarians In Love stumbled through its transitions from tight baroque score to Shechter’s contrastingly loose physicality, as the dancers stomped around the stage like beasts. But somewhere in between the clean ballet lines and weighted contemporary movement, the work loses its way. Shechter seems to make an attempt at postmodernism, using a cold female voice to narrate what appears to be a rather intimate therapy session. The woman repeatedly asks Shechter: ‘what do you want Hofesh?’, culminating in Shechter’s frank confession of a mid-life crisis and marital infidelity. His words cut through the built up tension, leaving little for the remainder of the work.

Finally, Pite’s An Image Of You Falling, second in the program was a much-needed relief. Pite’s choreography glides through dark fragmented images of the disturbed relationship between a man and a woman, danced by Peter Chu and Annie Plamondon; from the moment they met to their violent end. Another cold female voice repetitively narrates the piece; ‘this is where it began’, ‘this is the sound of your heart hitting the floor’, ‘this is the room where it happened… a bed, a table, a lamp, no curtains’. Pite’s use of second person is particularly discomforting and emphasises the eerie tone well. The dancers move soundlessly around each other, only making contact towards the end of the work. Their limbs intimately linger, slide and wrap around each other. In the background the sound of machinery, wind and passing cars fills the moments of silence. Was it a car accident that brought the couple to their violent end? Or was it a domestic dispute, as alluded to by the movement?

Pite remains the clear winner in tonight’s triple bill. Of all three choreographers, Pite has total control over her choreography and the direction that it takes. Whereas Shechter and Prince’s choreography felt incomplete and considerably blander.

Another angry mixed race voice

According to recent studies, "mixed race" is the fastest growing ethnic minority group in Britain, with 15% of the ethnic minority population being mixed race. It has become gradually more normal to see interracial couples and mixed race children in Britain in the past twenty years. But how do young mixed race people feel growing up belonging to more than one culture? And what does the commonality of seeing our image in advertising really say?

One of the most common identity problem among mixed race individuals is, for example, feeling too "white" to be "non-white", and too "non-white" to be "white". Although this may not account for all mixed race people, I have often felt out of place at Indian events and at English events. Indian friends have told me my behaviour is too western for me to be considered Indian, and my English family and friends have told me that my dark skin and thick hair is "exotic" or "cool". This sense of not having one singular, solid identity can be confusing and provoking. Additionally, to be frequently told I am not Indian or not English, while struggling to find an identity within each is hugely frustrating. As a child, I often felt like I belonged to a middle ground somewhere in between English and Indian, which I had to create for myself, since I wasn't automatically categorised as one or the other.

While there are clear identity problems for mixed race young people and children, there is also the issue of our sudden appearance in advertising. Our olive skin and thick hair is projected on advertising posters, fashion campaigns, on  televisions, and on social media. We are the more 'palatable' alternative to using specifically Black or Asian models, sufficiently exotic for consumers to recognise us as ethnically "different". We tick the equal opportunity box without offending or discomforting the consumer. Mixed race people are exoticised and valued for their desirable features by advertisers and promoters.

While considering the problem that lies with this, there is also the issue of the "acceptability" of our appearance. Images of darker African individuals have a history of infrequently being used on television or poster advertisements, because the stereotypical robustness of their bodies and darkness of their skin was deemed to be "unacceptable" by European social standards. So, it would seem that using mixed race models and actors to market products to consumers, instead of specifically African or Asian models, reinforces the racial politics that still exist now. Mixed race people are used as a commodity in our consumer culture, without being given a voice or an identity.

Nevertheless, it is significant that mixed race people are being included in advertising. It shows that we are living in a truly multicultural society. Additionally, perhaps providing images of mixed race individuals can create a sense of belonging for mixed race viewers and consumers. However, there is a problem with consumer and marketing attitudes towards race that needs to be addressed. Mixed race people are not a tool for creating profit, and neither are we a "safe" way of avoiding the consumer's discomfort of seeing images of specifically African or Asian individuals.

Want to know more?

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2006/sep/06/guardiansocietysupplement1

http://www.intermix.org.uk/academic/Emma%20Dabiri.asp

Warning: this one will make you angry
http://whitegenocideproject.com/study-mixed-race-people-have-identity-problems/

REVIEW: Igor and Moreno - Idiot Syncrasy

We started with wanting to change the world with a performance. We felt like idiots. Then we danced a lot. We jumped. We called on the folk traditions of Sardinia and the Basque Country. We sang. We jumped some more. We committed. Now we promise to stick together. We promise to persevere. We promise to do our best. - See more at: http://www.theplace.org.uk/igor-and-moreno#sthash.6zyFZAjk.dpuf

We started with wanting to change the world with a performance. We felt like idiots. Then we danced a lot. We jumped. We called on the folk traditions of Sardinia and the Basque Country. We sang. We jumped some more. We committed. Now we promise to stick together. We promise to persevere. We promise to do our best. - See more at: http://www.theplace.org.uk/igor-and-moreno#sthash.6zyFZAjk.dpuf

At first glance Idiot Syncrasy is a quirky, repetitive work that amuses and delights. However underneath its charming exterior, it is clear that the emotional intensity and overwhelming repetitive nature of the work lies in Igor and Moreno's subtle details. But what is most interesting is the artists' ability to make their audience feel exactly as they want.

The staging is minimal: white floor, three huge white screens staggered at the back, bright white lighting, no wings and no props. Thus the audience's attention is already directed to the two men performing in shorts and a plain t-shirt (which Igor continually changes, much to the audience's amusement). Other than the quirky opening of the work and their performance of Sardinian and Basque folk songs, the men simply bounce, for the majority of the work. There are few moments of pause or rest. From the outset, the repetitive bouncing creates a sense of tiredness in the audience.

The quirky details within the work set it apart from current and more conventional contemporary dance performance. Igor's careful concentration of undressing himself and delicately folding and laying his clothes versus Moreno's complete lack of care and disinterest in the act, is both intricately detailed and ingeniously funny. In addition, Igor's sudden reappearance from behind one of the white screens with two plastic shot glasses and a bottle of Scotch Whisky, is ludicrously hilarious. After pouring and drinking the shots, Moreno then disappears again and returns with two enormous stacks of plastic shot glasses and two large bottles of Scotch, which they then begin to pass around the audience. These charming additions to the work highlight the duo's imagination and attention to detail.

After the Scotch has been passed around the audience, the music abruptly becomes louder and more overwhelming. The auditorium is suddenly filled with the heavy vibration of the pulsating sound. The increased speed of the duo's repetitive bouncing, coupled with the alcohol, the increase in music volume and the gradual brightening of the white lighting, has a dizzying and drunk effect on the audience. The change in tone successfully provokes overwhelming feelings of tiredness and dizziness. The men continue to bounce, before slipping into a repetitive dance phrase that shifts them through the space with ease. Despite the exhausting nature of the work, they seem to glide and twist past each other effortlessly. After the work has reached it's climatic peak, the music slows and the men embrace in an intimate moment of contact. They spin slowly, hugging one another, clutching onto one another. There is a definite feeling of unity, of needing one another, as our journey with them gradually comes to an end.

Igor and Moreno perform a rich exploration of each section of the work, they exhaust every idea without compromise. No section is left inadequately investigated and no part of the work feels superficial. It could be this perseverance to fully explore without negotiation and the inclusion of charming details is the key to their capacity to manipulate the audience's feelings and emotions. In this way Idiot Syncrasy is both delightful and ingenious.


Igor and Moreno's Idiot Syncrasy was performed at The Place Tues 30 September & Wed 1 October, 8pm. 
 

REVIEW: Glass Pieces - Jerome Robbins, New York City Ballet

Jerome Robbins' three-part 'Glass Pieces' is a powerful and quick-moving exploration of traditional ballet vocabulary intermixed with postmodern work, accompanied by music composed by Philip Glass. Set against a graph paper backdrop, the New York City Ballet dancers' fast pace and sudden bursts of energy are reminiscent of the unmistakable urban energy of the city. 

The work opens with the full cast walking swiftly about the stage, dressed in costume designer Ben Benson's mismatching shades of red, pink, blue, green, gold and grey. The space is alive with bodies and colour, as the dancers charge forward through a scene that could be a busy train station or city street. Glass' Rubric with its repeated rhythms, shifting patterns and sweeping force drives the dancers through the space. From the outset Robbins asserts and captures the repetitive and fast paced energy of urban American life. Amongst the chaos of the dancers, sudden bursts of energy erupt as female dancers are lifted by their male counterparts, and as soloists suddenly jump or leap before returning to a fast walk. The sporadic bursts of energy are crisp amongst the fast pace of the dancers' abrupt changes in direction.

The second part, set to Glass' Facades, sees the female corps de ballet lined against the back of the stage. The silhouetted bodies of the female dancers roll across the front of the backdrop as they perform bouncy walks and repeated sustained arm movements and pliés, which match the tempo and rhythm of the music. In front of them an intimate and athletic duet unfolds, performed by principal dancers Wendy Whelan and Adrian Danchig-Waring. Whelan is carried on and off stage by Danchig-Waring, lifted at the waist, her arms and legs effortlessly split and held almost horizontally. Facades has a much slower pace overall, yet the direct correlation of movement to music maintains the steady pace of the entire work. 

Finally, 'Glass Pieces' is concluded with an incredibly powerful and driving performance by the male dancers of the cast, accompanied by an excerpt from Glass' opera 'Akhnaten', Funeral of Amenhotep. The men respond to the fast rhythm of the hammering drums and drawn out strings by grounding themselves into the floor, as they run and leap in unison, before the female corps de ballet rejoin them for the conclusion of the work. The rich, deep sounds of Funeral of Amenhotep is distinctly different from Rubric and Facades, separating the conclusion from the rest of the work and creating a successful climax to the ballet.

'Glass Pieces' is a hugely expansive and athletic ballet that consumes the space and breathes Glass' score. Robbins is successful in creating a dazzling ballet that incorporates the elements of postmodernism and examines the fast pace of urban life. 

Georgina Pazcoguin and Adrian Danchig-Waring talk about how the corps makes the dance in this Robbins favorite with music by Philip Glass.

Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Composer: Philip Glass
Production design: Robbins, Ronald Bates
Costume design: Ben Benson
Lighting design: Ronald Bates
Conductor: Clotilde Otranto

"Seasons changed, and the years went by but Roxaboxen was always there" : 'Really Is, Always Was' - Julia Corrigan

This weekend Goucher College held its annual Dance Concert in the stunning Kraushaar Auditorium. My friend Julia presented her choreographic work Really Is, Always Was at the concert. There was something very moving about the way her dancers moved through her choreography. There was a real sense of intent that drew me in from the outset. As well as making me want to go straight to the studio and dance, it also made me want to write. So here is a little review/stream of thoughts about Julia's work.

Julia Corrigan's Really Is, Always Was is a profoundly moving and driving work that was adjudicated in ACDFA (American College Dance Festival's Mid Atlantic Conference) in March 2014. Corrigan's work explores the idea of embodied memory and childhood. What does memory look like when manifested in our bodies? The work is influenced by the children's book Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran. Roxaboxen explores the imagination of a group of children who create their own imaginary town in the desert, using the sand, cacti and rocks around them. The incorporation of intense child-like happiness that can be found in freedom and play, is manifested as human curiosity and exploration in Corrigan's choreography.


The evocative and driving La Grande Cascade, Salento and Noel Aux Balkans composed by René Aubry sets the sincere, reminiscent tone of the work. Aubry's accompaniments drive the bodies through the journey of the choreography. The quick bursts of guitar and the driving piano melody match the dancers' bursts of energy and suspension as they spin, swinging and snaking their arms through the movement. The dancers crawl and cling and reach out with long graceful arms; longing for something lost, something distant, something out of reach.

The sense of melancholy created by the music is counteracted by the sweeping momentum of the choreography. Corrigan's beautiful use of her dancers serves her well in her choice of spatial formation that highlights the driving force behind the music. Dancers gather together in a tight clump on their knees, peeling away in canon and quickly travelling to the opposite side of the clump, before suddenly slipping back into the swinging, spinning momentum. There is a growing sense of overwhelming energy as the dancers seem to turn and fall and spin between the divide between memory and reality. Some seem to get lost in their memory, sinking deeper as their bodies lose control of what's real, while others seem to balance precariously on the knife edge between the two realms.

There is a sudden eruption of child-like delight as two dancers leap and jump across the empty stage. The space is theirs and suddenly the atmosphere becomes lively and full of human vitality. Two other dancers grip each others wrists and spin like children in a playground. It is at this point that the wondrous timelessness of McLerren's children's book becomes discernible. This careful amalgamation of child-like delight and poignant sincerity is incredibly powerful and thought provoking.

At last a single dancer walks calmly through the mass of bodies spinning and turning and falling through space. Among the chaos and storm of our memories there is still calmness and rationality. We all remember the sun-burnt blue skies of our childhood and familiarity of the grass between our toes. But how do we disentangle the divides between memory and reality? And what we can and can no longer have?