Nuno Silva's 'A Darker Shade of Fado' is a visually beautiful work which seeks to fuse the physicality of soul-bearing Fado music with contemporary dance, and a story of love and jealousy, set in the evocative historical old quarters of Lisbon.
Nuno Silva has worked in opera and musical theatre but is best known for his work with Henri Oguike, Javier de Frutos and Arthur Pita; while Fado has been included in his performances in recent years, this show allows him to fully explore the meeting point between dance and Fado.
More than just a dance show, 'A Darker Shade of Fado' aims to celebrate Portuguese culture, with complimentary wine and food offered by Atlantico; the performance at Greenwich Dance Agency on 16 May will be accompanied by Portuguese guitarist and composer Paulo Valentim, guitarist Bruno Costa, and fado singers Maria Cristão and Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira will give audiences a unique opportunity to enjoy the traditional music and songs of old Lisbon, with a traditional Portuguese buffet and authentic wine and beers.
'A Darker Shade of Fado' opens on a dimly-lit stage with dramatic and powerful movement from Nuno Silva, as haze fills the stage: a brilliant opening scene, followed by a beautiful and haunting song performed by Silva, bringing his physicality into his singing.
Following our introduction to Silva's character, Spirit, the piece begins properly, with an awakening scene with Stephanie Dufresne, her movement becoming wilder, falling and catching herself, echoed by Silva's shadowy figure behind her.
'A Darker Shade of Fado' is set in a luthier's workshop, enabling the connection between dance and music to be made tangible: Matthew Lackford sands down the front of a guitar; movement is created around parts of instruments, and a ukelele duet between Dufresne and Lackford becomes a quartet with the two dancers and their instruments.
Choreographer Dam Van Huynh creates movement to accompany the emotions of Silva's songs, turning Silva into a swirling, jerking figure. As Spirit, Silva's character orchestrates the meeting between and then separation of Dufresne and Lackford; when he shadows their movement from the rear of the stage, we wonder if he is directing or mirroring their movement, controlling the outcome of their story.
'A Darker Shade of Fado' can be seen as a meditation on music and how it integrates with dance: the live and prerecorded music propel the movement, while the choreography embodies the patterns of the music. Choreographer Dam Van Huynh certainly has a difficult task, to allow the central story to be told through means other than dance, yet he achieves this masterfully with exquisite choreography.
'A Darker Shade of Fado' is an accomplished work, but one to pigeonhole, with powerful performances, especially from Nuno Silva, both as a singer and dancer, dramatic lighting design from Guy Hoare and evocative costumes designed by Yann Seabra.
Photo credit: Nuno Santos