REVIEW: The Surreal Fantasy of Pina Bausch's 'Ahnen'

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch - Ahnen
Sadlers Wells
Friday 24th April 2015

Whisked away into a strange fantasy world, Peter Pabst's cacti ridden set seems to remind us of a futuristic or alien realm. With the addition of sand, straw, an enormous ladder, a great tank of water and a wind machine, Pabst's set allows the dancers to interact with a range of natural and distinctly man-made structures. Yet the randomness of the head of lettuce, the remote controlled helicopter and the large rubber walrus sitting at the back of the stage, remains distinctly surreal.

Busy is the best way to describe Pina Bausch's Ahnen. Driven by the pulsating and changing hypnotic music, the dancers go about their activities on stage with a sense deliberation and conviction:

Perched on a small wooden stool at the front of the stage, a woman busies herself grating a white substance into a bucket throughout the majority of the first act. A man, handcuffed and gagged with an orange, receives a shave from a man in a smart suit and gloves. Later, a man with an outrageously large white feather headdress (which later appears to actually be a tutu), clad only in blue underpants, sits completely still staring into space. Elsewhere, a smartly dressed manservant continuously irons newspapers for a blind woman, as she abruptly fires a pistol into the audience.

Behind the action centre stage, a woman in a black dress and heels unloads wheelbarrows of bricks to carefully build a wall. The crashing sound of the bricks interrupts the action downstage, breaking up the confusion and repetition of the dancers in view. Despite Bausch's renowned reputation in Europe, the disconnection of the dancers arbitrary actions during first act left me feeling bewildered- and cold.

However, the work progresses and the actions of the men and women become more coherent, as they begin to interact with one another and with the audience. Rather than performing their activities separately, without acknowledgement of one another, the dancers are now seen in group formations, united by a prop or a movement.

During a storm created by a wind machine offstage, a man pushes an enormous wardrobe through the cacti, offering blankets to the dancers. Later, a woman addresses the audience, demanding they 'straighten up!', in between amusing discussions of the sound of flies and how to paint water. A man and woman mime a barbarous cartoon fight, stretching each others faces, switching limbs and removing each others guts. While still remaining seemingly random, the connection between the dancers allows meaning to exude from their actions.

It appears that amongst the randomness of the dancer's actions and the indiscriminate objects onstage, Ahnen is a surreal commentary on human life. Are our human desires and activities as futile as the blind woman's request for her ironed newspapers? Bausch's intriguing dreamscape seems to point towards the pointlessness and futility of our own human activity.


Ahnen continues at Sadler's Wells until 26 April 2015

FOOTPRINT DANCE FESTIVAL: Promotional Launch Night!

Last night saw Footprint Dance Festival's promo launch night at University of Roehampton's student union bar. Artistic directors Hannah and Nia led the evening of fundraising, selling t-shirts and doughnuts, holding a jar of sweets competition (congratulations to Ben Patterson!) and finally announcing the Footprint line-up.

Volunteer sign-up and festival tickets (available online here) were also released. Additionally, Footprint's orange mascot was welcomed as the newest member of the team.

Later in the evening, film manager Emilie's promotional video was introduced, revealing Ceyda Tanc Dance, Eden Wiseman, Crystal Zillwood and Jann Gallios, amongst others, as special guests. And finally, renowned choreographer Rosemary Lee was announced as Footprint's special guest. After graduating from the Laban Centre, Lee has choreographed and danced internationally for twenty years, often working with media and film, and on large scale site specific works.

After an incredibly enjoyable and successful launch night, the team raised £126 for the festival. Thank you to everyone who supported us!

We are incredibly excited for the festival to begin in May, get your tickets from the UoR E-Store now!! And don't forget to check out our website and Facebook for more details!

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.