Resolution! is an annual platform hosted by The Place for new choreographers, showcasing a range of dance graduates, dance teachers and dancers from various mid-range dance companies. While in past years, we're reminded that most of today's contemporary dance greats started out in Resolution!, this year's recurring description has been "a lucky dip", which Resolution! truly is, with three companies performing per night over 26 nights, and not knowing what you're going to get till the evening ends.

The second night of Resolution! opened with Matthew Robinson's and Toby Fitzgibbons's second duet for this platform, (why wait for what, for wait for when). Although both are dancers with Scottish Dance Theatre, Robinson has already proved himself to be a choreographer to watch, from his graduate work for London Contemporary Dance School to 'For A Second I Stood', created in 2010 for the Space Cadets, the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance's student touring company.

By contrast, (why wait for what, for wait for when) was a far more experimental and personal work, with the mood shifting for each of the six pieces of music used, ranging from playful interaction during 'Sweet Home Alabama' to enacting broken birds during 'Blackbird'. Robinson and Fitzgibbons have been exploring cinematography, and this was evident from theatrical staging and strong imagery, combining props and projection effectively.

This is clearly a piece with lots of ideas touched on briefly; it will be interesting to see them explored in more depth.


The second work of the evening, BooJack by Daniel Walters, was more theatre than dance, exploring the all-pervasiveness of the media: newspapers all around us, in our clothes, in our mouths, swallowing us whole.

It was a very atmospheric work, with low lighting, dramatic music and stark costumes for the three women, with more of an emphasis on movement than conventional choreography, for example Gwenny Rose Robson shaking while Elodie Frater and Lucy Foster-Perkins tried to suffocate each other with yet more newspaper. At the end of the piece, we could finally make out Robson's words: a story of a school shooting, a sober ending for a light-hearted piece.


The evening ended with an almighty bang from MaxwellDance Project, with their reggae-influenced 'The B-Sides', much to the delight of their loyal fans in the rear of the auditorium.

Maxwell's choreography aimed to be sultry and sinewy, with plenty of flirting and innuendos - Theo Lowe's every hip gyration was met with screams from the audience - although as with their earlier piece 'Je Suis', there was a very clear distinction between the African-trained dancers and the contemporary-trained dancers, which at times detracted from the piece.

Dancers all too often forget to smile - so Shelley Maxwell's dancers' happiness was very refreshing to see, and the vigour and freshness of her choreography made this the clear highlight of the evening.