“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 ...
‘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. ...
‘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 ...
‘For the more witchy among you, May Day bank holiday or Beltane is all about renewal, regrowth, and May poles. I have my own tradition, which is an artistic celebration of the new, budding, and blossoming: Breakin’ Convention.’ Due to word limits and a very stuffed festival, I shall be sparing with background. Twenty-two years ago, HipHop legend Jonzi D and his ...
‘Don’t we all want to regress evolutionarily and return to the trees? Ok just me? Well, Dance Reflections does just that with Rachid Ouramdane and the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève’s latest highline extravaganza.’ Arguably the best-heeled festival in the city, your little theatre reviewer returned to the Dance Reflections byVan Cleef & Arpels Festival for much more than just the ...
‘Midway through the gold-spangled Dance Reflections Festival (by Van Cleef & Arpels), Lyon Opera Ballet takes on the messiah of modern dance: Merce Cunningham.’ Dance Reflections Festival – Lyon Opera Ballet If you’re reading this, I assume you are a dance head, like myself, and so the shadow of Merce Cunningham looms large. If not, the American choreographer and dancer dominated the ...
‘Carving out a place within you, and sections will stay forever.’ Michael Keegan-Dolan’s groaning cornucopia of a show with company Teaċ Daṁsa outstands, outsmarts, and exhausts in equal measure. There is so much to discuss, so much crammed in, so many visual, musical, and thematic elements to cover for this show, that I have been sitting for five minutes, fingers ...
‘The Glastonbury Festival’ Everyone has their own specific May bank holiday rituals. Some go for a bracing hike around the Chilterns, some down tinned cocktails on the sin-wagon to Brighton, and some (Including me) pack into the already packed Sadler’s Wells for the yearly hip hop festival Breakin’ Convention. This time the festival is celebrating 21 years. Bounding along, forgetting ...