Why is dance writing important?

Unlike other art forms, such as painting, sculpture, or literature; dance is a fleeting, ephemeral form of art. Dance can not exist outside of the time and space it was performed in. Painting, like sculpture and indeed literature, becomes a physical object that can be touched, relocated and preserved indefinitely. Yet, dance no longer exists in any form outside of the few minutes that it is performed.

Dance writers have the ability to resurrect images of dance movement, as well as reawaken emotions evoked through dance. Given its ephemeral nature, the images, emotions and meanings created through dance are completely lost after the performance has ended. So, the dance writer is given the power to resurrect, physically record and preserve these often intangible facets of dance. 

Therefore, preserving the many interpretations and meanings found in dance- not to mention their historical, cultural and political significance- is of the utmost important to dance writers. 

Additionally, dance writers have the responsibility to write honestly and boldly. What is 'good' dance? And who decides what makes good dance? Other than word-of-mouth, the dance writer is responsible for creating excitement, criticism, recommendation and simply analysing dances. Spectators use dance reviews to decide what performances to watch, and equally which not to watch. In addition, dance artists may also depend on the opinions of dance writers for the success of their performances and tours. 

So why is dance writing important? Dance writing has the invaluable ability to breathe life into the lost images and sentiments that are created in performance. But above all, dance writers hold the key to preserving, or even 'immortalising', an art form that would otherwise be lost.

Dance Film Festival UK 2015 brings another prominent installation of ‘visual beauty’

Dance Film Festival UK provides a much-needed opportunity for dance film artists to engage with new audiences, access professional development opportunities, and to network with other artists. With a complete focus on screendance, Dance Film Festival UK allows artists and spectators alike to immerse in dance film.

The festival day opened with Katie Johnston’s flipbook animation workshop. Specially tailored for dance artists, the workshop explored techniques to capture dance movement in drawing. Meanwhile, throughout the day the audience were invited to leave the buzz of the festival and enter Private Cinema Installations. Behind the velvety red curtains of the cinema booths, the viewer found an eclectic collection of short dance films.

The main festival screenings presented a diverse selection of documentaries. The films documented mature dance company Three Score’s performance at Brighton Rail Station; an exchange of dance between children in Hackney and New Orleans; a moving tale between a Mexican and a Taiwanese dancer; and the dedication and devotion of three prominent Hip Hop dancers. While the emphasis was still on dance, the documentaries provided a revealing insight into the lives and struggles of the artists.

The following three programmes proved to be an extremely vibrant mix of dance films. While some films experimented purely with the relationship between movement and camera, others, like Antoine Marc & Drew Cox’s Descent and Shireen Talhouni & Ali Al-Saadi’s Sarmad, provided moments of stunning visual beauty. Other dance films dealt honestly with issues of womanhood, disability, sexual empowerment, control and cultural tradition. Overall, a hugely exciting and international mixture of dance films.

The festival day closed with commissioned dance works from innovative London based Protocol Dance Company, and unique video and animation team Garrett and Garrett Videography. Lastly, an on-the-day collaboration and screening of work by Mina Aidoo and Brian Gillespie revealed just how accessible dance film can be.

As well as making screendance highly accessible to viewers, Dance Film Festival UK fosters curiosity and inquisitiveness. The festival truly is an invaluable platform to inspire, engage and most importantly, excite artists about dance film.

DFFUK: REVIEW: Living With Sin

Living With Sin – Lizzie J Klotz & Lucia Schweigert

Dance Film Festival UK

O2 Think Big Hub

Saturday 8^th August 2015

Living With Sin appears at first as an intimate encounter; the camera focuses intrusively on a woman’s skin, her hair, her shoulders, her face; revealing dustings of gold glitter. But as the work progresses, Lizzie J Klotz and Lucia Schweigert’s discussion of the Christian doctrine of original sin becomes clear.

Dancer Jonna Tideman’s crimson jumper layered over a red dress is striking in front of a bleak stone landscape. The colours seem to connote anger, frustration, guilt, despair, and above all, sin. All of which are easy to identify. Quick, flashing images of Tideman’s face, twisted with pain, fractures the scene- as she sits seemingly serene on stone steps.

Later, Tideman is seen dancing in long black robes, again filmed against a stark concrete landscape. She is positioned off-centre, often disappearing out of the frame all together. In fact, the colours, unconventional positioning and the disjointed sound of mbira cycles (African thumb piano) all seem to hint at the fragmentation of womanhood.

Indeed, the simultaneously introspective and frantic tone of Klotz and Schweigert’s work unites all experiences in one woman.

DFFUK: REVIEW: Vice Versa, an exchange of dance, through the eyes of children

Vice Versa – Hattie Worboys

Dance Film Festival UK

O2 Think Big Hub

Saturday 8^th August

Director, Hattie Worboy’s Vice Versa is an exciting exchange of dance, culture and heritage across the Atlantic between two groups of children- one from New Orleans and one from Hackney. The film displays a colourful comparison of life through the sincere eyes of children, who all have one thing in common- dancing.

While New Orleans appears vibrant, with the bright colours of carnival and warm sun, Hackney appears grey, fast-paced and distinctly urban. London music producer Miles Romans Hopcroft’s (aka WU LU) choice of UK Garage, House and Dubstep reflects the familiar images of concrete and rain.

Contrastingly, the Dixieland Jazz sounds of carnival reveal New Orleans’s rich street dance culture. The bright sunshine, vibrant colour and cheerful sound of trombones and trumpets create a stark contrast to Worboy’s representation of Hackney. The children shuffle, shake and jump in matching outfits in their respective towns.

While there are big differences in the mood and tone of the two cities, and in the children’s dance styles, both groups explore their identities through the freedom of expression. Finally, it seems that while the children are thousands of miles apart, the vitality and energy of their dances crosses the physical and emotional distance between them.

DFFUK: REVIEW: Descent: The Essence of Life and Death

Descent – Drew Cox & Antoine Marc

Dance Film Festival UK

O2 Think Big Hub

Saturday 8^th August 2015

Thick honey oozes from a man’s mouth, as he begins his gradual descent from life to death. Directors, Drew Cox and Antoine Marc explore themes of terminal illness and family support, which eases the torment of illness.  Overall, Descent is a dazzling work of both choreography and screendance.

Filmed in the iconic room of the feature film The King’s Speech (2010), Cox and Marc’s images are visually stunning. Descent is washed with shades of mustard and teal, which peal off the walls behind the dancers. The thick honey, seeping from the man’s mouth, seems to symbolise the loss of life, but also reveals the essence of life.

Moreover, shot in slow motion, the film captures the dancers in powerful, gravity-defying moments. They propel themselves into the air, displaying their rippling muscles and profound strength. Three men leap, cartwheeling their legs over their heads. Meanwhile a woman performs a moving solo, consuming the space, as she lunges, ripples and then hurls herself through the music.

Sumptuous floorwork and rich shifts of weight are as indulgent as the honey that continues to ooze from the man’s lips. With an emphasis on power and beauty, Marc’s choreography appears at once delicious and compelling.

REVIEW: Akram Khan & Israel Galván's TOROBAKA

Torobaka - Akram Khan & Israel Galván
Sadler's Wells
Tuesday 30th June 2015 

Using their respective backgrounds in Kathak and Flamenco dance, Akram Khan and Israel Galván come head-to-head (quite literally) in the return of Torobaka at Sadler's Wells. Torobaka, meaning "bull cow", is the coming together of two animals that are sacred to the dancers' two nations. Fundamentally, Torobaka is the coming together of two dance styles.

The work begins with Khan and Galván sitting on the edge of a large, deep pink circle, which acts as a sort of bullring for their duelling and wrestling. Khan whirls, throwing his arms above his head with the same luxurious quality as ever. Seville-born Galván moves with power and electricity, stamping his heels and cutting through the space with a perfectly poised torso.

The men take turns taking the stage, demonstrating the similarities between Kathak and Flamenco- complex rhythms, ferocious passion, and rapid stamping footwork. In fact, Galván's feet move so fast, they seem evocative of the fluttering wings of a hummingbird. Contrastingly, Khan's lines and movements are softened into recognisable South Asian curves.

Interestingly, the three musicians are almost equally as involved as the dancers. Two vocalists perform eclectic Andulsian folk songs and a man sits at the back playing the tabla (drum) and the sitar (stringed instrument). Despite the beauty and talent of the music, the excessive eclecticism begins to feel repetitive.

While Torobaka presents some exceptional talent and technique, both in the dancers and musicians, it does feel incomplete. It is definitely worth watching Khan and Galván tumble around each other, but it might be wise to approach it as a draft of that could evolve into something even more exciting.

REVIEW: FOOTPRINT DANCE FESTIVAL: Overlooking Looking in Courtney Draddy's 'Ma'

Barefoot
Footprint Dance Festival
Lulham Studio
University of Roehampton
Thursday 14th May 2015

Undergraduate BA Dance Studies student Courtney Draddy presented her dissertation choreography, Ma on Footprint Dance Festival's Thursday night Barefoot performances. Ma, meaning the space between two structures of compositional elements in Japanese, explores the nature of seeing and experiencing. Interestingly, what is seen by the dancers and what the audience chooses to see are just as important as each other. Draddy creates a work that questions both how and what the audience sees.

Draddy creates a stark white landscape, reminiscent of the Japanese dance form of Butoh. The three dancers are painted white: their arms, legs, feet, hands, necks and faces streaked with white paint. Only their eyes are revealed. In addition, the dancers are dressed simply, wearing plain white vest tops and loose fitting, sheer white skirts. The lack of colour seems to strip the dancers of identity or individuality, creating a 'blank canvas' for Draddy. Yet, amongst the bleakness of the setting, a large circle on the floor is created using red string, creating a harsh contrast to the white landscape.

As well as connecting through the movement, the dancers appear to use eye contact to sustain connection. They sit and watch one another, catch each other's eyes, inspect each other's bodies, while scrutinising their own limbs. This intense 'looking' consumes Ma, captivating the audience and drawing them in from the outset.

The dancers move slowly and deliberately, calculating each movement with precision. The dancers move slowly with a sense of regality, before sudden bursts of energy shift the trio more frantically. Flexed feet and angular arm lines, with sustained transfers of weight exemplify Draddy's careful construction of the work. Additionally, delicious contact work sees the dancers connecting using their heads, backs, arms and necks as they carefully slide, lean and roll across one another. The organic quality of the movement reflects Draddy's deep and profound choreographic research. Ma is not a lighthearted or breezy work of dance.

As the work draws to a close, dancer Emily Robinson slowly picks up the red string, wrapping it carefully around her arm. The crimson string against her white skin is a striking reminder of Draddy's construction (or indeed, deconstruction) of landscape and identity. Ma demands that the audience stop and fully experience Draddy's internal and intense world of movement, without watching passively. Draddy comments on the everyday-habit of looking, but failing to see.