‘Playfully morphing between modes’ I thankfully have no children but have observed my friends that do, say that their changeable little goblins are difficult to entertain and appease. With war, sex and the stock market easily accessible through those magic mirrors we keep giving them, how does one engage such overstimulated offspring? Circus is a common answer, but suppose you ...
“Alternatives to the gruff and bluff of traditional masculinity” I was 7 in 2001 when Michael Nunn (now OBE) and William Trevitt (OBE) astounded the ballet world with their gamble-show Pointless at The Camden Roundhouse. That’s less of a flex and more of a statement on the legacy of these fellows, almost a whole lifetime of work, rightly celebrated. After ...
‘Switching things up proves to surprise’ I have been a Breakin’ Convention (BC) stan for over five years now. A fraction, considering that London’s premiere hip-hop festival in London’s premier dance venue is celebrating its 22nd year. Never have I been on the Friday; however, switching things up proves to surprise, and not completely in the best way. Over Saturday ...
“Talented, if slightly drunk seeming dancers” I braved torrential rain, compounded by a particularly violent and semi-hallucinogenic cold, plus a last-minute venue change, all to eventually arrive at Sadler’s Wells East for a thoroughly perplexing evening. Hours before, the owner of The Peacock’s building, LSE, informed the renters (Sadler’s Wells) that “unavoidable building works” (we wonder weather-related?) required the theatre ...
‘Who? What? When? Why?’ Voilà! Festival ships over a tale of sisterhood, sacrifice and gentrification, in the shifting patter of Greek from Athens to London. The social drama should translate fairly easily, considering the common ground and universal themes. Konstantinos Avramis and his theatre company Dispositif. are a nomadic, experimental outfit, mixing physical and ritualistic theatre to deliver a political ...
‘A bubbling smoothie of the weird, the wacky, and the wonderful’ “And it was all a dream” is a universally acknowledged cop-out ending, yet that doesn’t deter Hollywood from trotting it out again and again. Conversely, choreographers regularly view somnambulation as carte blanche-an opportunity to break free of the already largely ignored narrative rigidity and let their freak flag fly. ...
‘We feel a little left out as spectators’ Dam Van Huynh’s Van Huynh Company dominates The Place, following on from their 2023 piece Re:birth. Exquisite Noise is an exploration of rebellion and sound, the question is: does the noise make sense? I think of my experience of this show as pre-blurb and post-blurb. Let’s start, contrary-wise, with my understanding after ...
‘gothic gladiators’ Acrobatics, I would argue, are truly universal. Especially for families: dazzling feats for the kiddywinks, and enough risk and flesh to keep the adults awake. The heady mix of possible death or disfigurement and the twisted, lithe bodies keeps audiences of all ages coming back. Once trapped in the big top (easy, tiger), the circus folk have leapt ...
‘Navigating the shark-infested waters of their local‘ There is something truly idiosyncratic about the British pub, dare I go further, the London pub. The Italian osteria or Greek taverna doesn’t have quite the same blend of comfort and rowdiness, that distinctive smell or pint-dulled tang that settles at midnight. So, when I clocked a new(ish) Matthew Bourne set in one ...
‘Korean art has long enthralled the West: from Changgeuk and Pansori (Opera/folk performance) to swooping, spidery calligraphy. Now, a festival of dance expands our horizons once again.’ Having missed Jinjo Crew at Breakin’ Convention at the beginning of the month, I fairly squeaked when I spied that a Korean dance festival was on at The Place and in its eighth year. It is supported ...