‘Besmeared with mud, sweat, eyes wide, hands flayed, panting for breath’ A shining example of the potential of our international-interconnected world, and a warning of the issues that plague it (quite literally in this sense). The first Pina Bausch Foundation (Germany) collaboration with École des Sables (Senegal). This touring production brings together radical new talent from 14 different African countries ...
‘Silky skirts and swishing layers of white gossamer constantly create changing shapes’ Since its inception in 2015 Kyle Abraham’s theatre company, A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham (standing for Abraham in Motion) has been on an impressive trajectory. A “post-Modern Gumbo” as Abraham puts it, of ideas, Black culture, history, and movement. From their home in New York the company’s far-reaching limbs ...
‘Trash-talking birds, a flock of mean-spirited, cynical crows’ Plato waxed lyrical about it, Edith Warton was cynical about it, and now Israeli dance sensation L-E-V has trotted out their final triptych around everyone’s favourite gooey subject…..Love. Scaling-up in Sadler’s Wells and upgrading once more with famous costume design. The question is, how they will conclude on a topic that’s been done to ...
‘Every second is poured full of athletic skill, imagination, and verve’ Despite the mind-numbingly bad title this piece is showcasing “what makes Rambert Rambert”. Like Tolkien’s glowing Silmarils these 3 short pieces shine forth: individual, interesting, intriguing. Spawned by Dame Marie Rambert after seeing Isadora Duncan perform, almost 100 years of excellence have passed since then. Rambert2 brings a youth ...
‘Beauty, talent, and creativity hidden from us in the corner, never shown’ Matthias Sperling Sadler’s Wells should be rightfully proud of its championing of the new, fresh and unusual side of dance. The Lilian Baylis studio is normally where this wacky world flourishes, a hothouse of creativity if you will. Matthias Sperling’s London premiere of his 2019 piece No-How Generator is certainly ...
“Going down a treat’ Solera I love a good drink. After all, I am British. So, a show based around solera (a system of aging fortified wines by adding younger wines to mature wines to create a perfectly-aged blend) is going to go down a treat. The deeper concept however is untranslatable and forgotten in our cold rainy lexicon. The idea, applicable to ...
‘Will bring a smile to any human no matter the size of their brain or heart’ ISH Dance Collective “Energy” is a word thrown around a lot nowadays when talking about theatre. “He energetically remained static during the fight scene, her energy during the monologue was outstanding”. Energy: overused and under-appreciated…however ISH Dance Collective under the direction of Marco Gerris ...
‘Bursts of bravado, bravery, and beauty’ English National Ballet As a ballet reviewer/devotee even I admit it’s reputation as stuffy and conservative is still proving hard to shed. Venues like Sadlers Wells and The Place do their utmost to regularly reinvent the landscape and companies like Ballet Black and Rambert (to name a few) keep banging their drums. But with ...
‘Belonging, heritage and environmentalism’ What were you doing at 20 years of age? I was subsisting on a diet of super noodles and Marlboro reds, just starting an eye-opening but physically gruelling course at drama school. I certainly couldn’t claim to have been creating work that challenged and exposed the dance world’s prejudices, along with being of an impressively high ...
‘Confident storytelling’ BalletBoyz Premiering in March 2020 Deluxe only dazzled 7 times before the world closed inward again. But never fear, 2 years on, and a new set of exciting male dancers bring BalleyBoyz’s (almost) lost show back to Sadlers Wells, and thank goodness they did! Michael Nunn and William Trevitt (artistic directors and co-founders of the company) along with ...