Cloud Dance Festival | Reviews
Reviews
Described as a story of love, flying overdue library books, and a dancing librarian, Shhh! celebrates the humble local library. A narrative work with twelve scenes and five performers, C-12 Dance Theatre’s production also employs original music, immersive projection work and movable bookcases to tell a story set in a closing-down library. Telling stories seems a particularly apt choice for a work about libraries, and it soon becomes clear that the library is…
The rhythmic, musical, unison movement performed by Rubberbandance's five dancers in the opening of 'Gravity of Center' very much sets up what is to come. They creep and shift throughout the stage as a tight unit, gazing intensly out beyond the audience, and in one moment, Daniel Mayo plunges off the edge of the stage, to be hauled back by the others. The dim lighting, smoky haze, earnest faces and intent of movement…
Contemporary dance work can often unsuccessfully dangle somewhere between pure dance and theatre: vague characters and hard-to- follow plots which leave some audience members confused and bored. This is not the case with Dogs Land by Mad Dogs Dance Theatre. This piece of contemporary dance theatre combines hard-hitting and convincing storytelling, with choreography that pushes the boundaries of physicality in astounding and surprising ways. It is multi-layered and engaging for both dance and…
Large architectural structures on stage, a rich blend of cultural influences, ambitious universal themes — this is definitely a Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui work. The architectural structures in this instance are large blocks of various shapes and dimensions, puzzle pieces to be put together and taken apart. The performers do just this, manipulating their landscape, arranging and rearranging them to form stairs, walls, columns, corridors, platforms. They run through them, into them, climb up,…
If you asked me to devise my ideal triple bill, Jiri Kylian and Roland Petit would be way at the top of the list - and I'm certainly not alone in that. So English National Ballet's first triple bill under Tamara Rojo's leadership is a dream come true, with Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort and Roland Petit's Le Jeune Homme et la Mort. And as English National Ballet is fundamentally a classical ballet company,…
Ten of the twelve performers are lined up across the back of the stage clutching large cardboard boxes marked ‘FRAGILE’. This label could describe the performers as much as the content of the boxes: dressed in odd assortments of clothes which appear cobbled together, they seem desperate and forlorn as snow falls around them. The vulnerability sensed in the opening of The Rite of Spring gives way to urgency and desperation as Stravinsky’s…
In his 'Brief Introduction to the Shaolin Martial Arts' in the 'Sutra' programme, Meir Shahar suggests the appealing notion that through their Shaolin martial arts training, the monks are not training their bodies for battle (being Buddhist and therefore inherently non-violent), but rather "cultivating their minds for spiritual awakening". The movement content in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's 'Sutra' is undeniably impressive, but there is sadly little evidence of anything deeper than incredible physicality. The…
BalletLORENT's monumental debut performance at Sadler's Wells saw Rapunzel sell out with an audience of over 2000 people over the weekend. Rapunzel unravels a fascinating and multilayered journey through a well-loved tale and is more akin to the Grimm original. What is different about this version is that it explores the husband and wife's story alongside that of the Witch, Rapunzel and the Prince. Artistic Director and choreographer Liv Lorent became interested in…
People often become accustomed to the dance companies which form their regular diet, which allows certain gems to slip through their would-be nets, and Tom Dale is one such gem. A British Council artist, a resident company at Dance4 (Nottingham), a DanceDigital (Essex) Associate Artist and a Déda (Derby) Associate Choreographer, it's little wonder his company only passes through London fleetingly, with just two tour dates planned: 19 and 20 April at Laban…
Recently cited in the Metro as one of the 'Top 5 in Demand Dance-Makers' (metro.co.uk/2013/02/21/dance-makers-in-demand-3507010/), and currently working on projects with English National Opera and the West End's 'Privates On Parade', as well as being a Place Prize semifinalist in both 2008 and 2012, it's safe to say there was a great deal of anticipation and even hype around Ben Wright's latest offering from his own company, bgroup. The anticipation transferred onto the…
I think it's safe to say that I am, at the best of times, extremely gullible. And I know this. But in 'Second Coming', the opening of Scottish Dance Theatre's double bill, they truly had me, and I'm fairly sure everyone around me, hook, line and sinker. From a bare stage, house lights still up, with dancers milling around in warmup mode, we were told that there was a water leak and a…
There is no question of artist Franko B’s gift for generating live imagery of almost alchemical imagination. The conception and arrangement of Because of Love Volume 1 are striking in themselves; but it is the performance – in which he brings to bear his neutral, cohering presence and consummate, wordless candour – which finally endows this work with its uniquely moving qualities. He arrives on stage in sandshoes, white singlet and shorts as the…
Verve, Northern Contemporary Dance School's postgraduate dance company, celebrates the lithe vitality and youthful enthusiasm of professional dancers at the dawn of their careers. The program is varied, presenting pure movement, conceptual and theatrical pieces, using a wide mix of sound from classical to popular culture. Mark Baker and Luke Hayward’s lighting design is a striking and complimentary feature throughout. Conceptually, the strongest piece of the evening, Night Time, was choreographed by Frauke…
Woody Allen said that ‘If you are not failing now and again, then you are probably not doing anything innovative’. Thankfully, Yorkshire Dance’s Friday Firsts provides just such an opportunity for choreographers and audiences alike: the chance to experience new and experimental choreography up close and personal. This particular evening, Double Act, curated by Beth Cassani, explores, provokes and romps with the idea of ‘couplings’, starting with Intercourse, a ‘performative’ solo devised by Louise Ahl.…
What does it mean to be free? Can we only define freedom by its absence? ”We have to fail the experience of freedom to be able to recreate it” said Jasmin Vardimon, when talking about her latest work Freedom. These ironic contrasts are prevalent throughout this intriguing, if indulgent exploration of all that is, and is not freedom. The structure of the piece is episodic, with a series of different characters, whose stories…
Two men enter holding empty water bottles. They proceed to calmly, deliberately swipe their arms through the air in unison, the bottles creating a low, rhythmic whoosh as they do so. A third man joins them, swinging a wooden pole to the same rhythm and adding texture to the simple soundscape. In this opening section, the repetition of vignettes underscores the sense of rhythm and ritual that the men set up. This is…
Mentor Kerry Nicholls has overseen a strong collection of works for this year’s Refresh. In keeping with the tradition, music suggestions from prominent choreographers were thrown into a lucky dip, from which another batch of choreographers drew and based their work with the six youth dance companies involved. Intervals between performances were filled with interview footage of the music selectors, musing on their own development and extolling the virtues of dance as a…
Sunday, 17 February 2013 21:37
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch: Two Cigarettes in the Dark
Written by Ieva Kuniskis
‘Why don’t you come in, my husband is at war’ bids Mechthild Grossmann, one of the original cast members (alongside Dominique Mercy) in Two Cigarettes In The Dark, originally created in 1985. Standing at the footlights in a voluminous ball gown, her majestic pose and weighty tone instantly alludes to dejected relationships and small-time affairs. Striking stage design from Peter Pabst sets the mood further: a white room with numerous doors and hidden…
Sunday, 17 February 2013 00:59
Resolution! The Twin Factory, Wrecking Ball Dance Company, Off The Map
Written by Elise Nuding
The last night of Resolution! 2013 offered three quite different works, but none really stood out. The Twin Factory’s Geraldine and Me opened the night. Created and performed by dance and visual artists Rachel Champion and Linda Remahl, strong design elements constructed a consistent, effective aesthetic world for the performers to inhabit. It was a world vaguely Victorian in nature. Already on stage when the audience entered the auditorium, one performer paced back and forth…
Sunday, 17 February 2013 00:52
Resolution! HINGED, Camila Gutierrez & Fionn Cox-Davies, Cesilie Kverneland, The Nonsuch Dancers
Written by Rebecca Nice
Opening the programme with a refreshing blast of high energy and humour, Taira Foo’s Rainman depicted the story of two brothers, with a cast of eleven and suggestive of Matthew Bourne’s narrative shows. Their journey, complete with troubles and plights, was communicated sometimes a little crudely through evocative motifs, a backdrop of text, voiceovers and attempts at miming or acting which undermined the performance. An exploration of the potential of the movement vocabulary would allow…
Thursday, 14 February 2013 14:01
Resolution! Company Ben Abbes, Tamar Daly & Nicolette Corcoran, KAONASHI
Written by Anna Pearce
In front of a quieter (but solid and supportive) audience than I've recently experienced at Resolution!, the night got underway with Company Ben Abbes' 'White Room'.Presenting promising ideas on paper, this piece for five dancers dressed all in white seemed somewhat detached from such concepts as death, fear and loneliness which are mentioned in the programme notes. Instead, the choreography concerned itself more with carefully placed, all-too-familiar movement which unfortunately did not connect to its…
Phoenix Dance Theatre premiered their new programme “Particle Velocity” to a packed audience at West Yorkshire Playhouse. This mixed bill was a very diverse programme and offered a combination of traditional and cutting-edge choreography, all wrapped up in the physically dynamic style that Phoenix Dance Theatre is best known for.The evening opened with choreography from Richard Alston, which is the first work he has created for the company and fans of his work…
Sunday, 10 February 2013 17:37
Resolution! Mariana Camiloti, Loughlin Dance, CoDa Dance Company
Written by Elise Nuding
The three works of this Resolution! evening all began with strong, striking images. Some delivered on the potential set up by their opening, while others did not. Standing alone in a green dress, Mariana Camiloti exudes presence from the moment of her entrance. Soon, a green balloon emerges from her pocket and the solo becomes a duet. Air is repeatedly blown into and let of the balloon, with Camiloti similarly inflating and deflating in empathy…
Sunday, 10 February 2013 01:14
Resolution! DeNada Dance Theatre, Diciembre Dance Group, The Typewriters
Written by Chantal Guevara
It takes a very brave choreographer to tackle Le Jeune Homme et la Morte, previously immortalised by Roland Petit, but not only did Carlos Pons Guerra do exactly that for DeNada Dance Theatre, but he accomplished it with a hell of a lot of flair, effortlessly banishing the likes of Barysnikov, Nureyev and Vasiliev in the opening moments.Unfortunately, the intensity of Young Man! (a direct translation of 'Jeune Homme') also had the effect of banishing…
Saturday, 09 February 2013 16:32
Resolution! taciturn, Zoe Cobb (The Artful Badger), Ivan Blackstock
Written by Rachel Vogel
Last night’s programme at Resolution! was overflowing with physical humour. Clever and engaging, these three groups: taciturn, (Zoe Cobb) The Artful Badger, and Ivan Blackstock delivered unique perspectives to the everyday event, infusing and delighting the audience with creative performance.Taciturn could upstage and deliver some comical lessons to all airline staff: based around health and safety guidelines, this trio demonstrates what to do when your parachute fails, what to do in an earthquake, how to…
Sunday, 03 February 2013 18:47
Resolution! penny & jules dance, Wayne Parsons, Botis Seva
Written by Elise Nuding
This Resolution! triple bill saw all four choreographers performing in their pieces, something not unusual for Resolution! where funds are tight (or, in many cases, non-existent). As is also not unusual for this new dance platform, the night’s offering was a mixed bag. As the hashtag in the title might indicate, social media was the theme of penny & jules’ #Factory. The audience were encouraged to tweet @pennyandjules during the piece - a live feed(back)…
Saturday, 02 February 2013 23:52
Resolution! Joe Lott Dance, Scope Dance Theatre, Sven K Dance
Written by Rebecca Nice
Tonight's triple bill found a breakdancing quartet in Palette, mapping and painting their movements as a disparate drawing was formed, sandwiched between two similarly science-themed contemporary pieces, Chemistry and Heart of Matter.Joe Lott's Chemistry, in response to Mendeleev's dream of the elements and how the periodic table came to existence, evoked a vision of dancing atoms that, as the music shifted in dynamic, sparkled with gestural nuances. Two male and three female dancers grouped and…
Saturday, 02 February 2013 00:16
Resolution! Kansaze Dance, Porkpie Dance Theatre, Hack Ballet
Written by Chantal Guevara
Can we call dance works schizophrenic? And are the multiple personalities an intentional choice, or due to the result of choreographic indecision? And do we really want to know the answer to that? Kansaze Dance's Looking Back, created by Rachael Kansaze Nanyonjo, is a very good example of a dance work with multiple identities. Dispensing with programme notes altogether, the audience was forced to piece together the context of the piece, from the opening 'I…
Thursday, 31 January 2013 00:33
Resolution! Rubedo Dance; Selina Papoutseli, Tom Lyall & Cis O'Boyle; Anne-Gaëlle Thiriot
Written by Chantal Guevara
Resolution! has a way of challenging your expectations: the pieces you look forward to seeing aren't always what you thought they'd be, and other works on the programme often end up surprising you - and in a good way. The first work on tonight's programme was by Dena Lague's Rubedo Dance. Dena Lague is known to many as being part of the Matthew Bourne family, and indeed, a number of her dancers were familiar from…
The night opened with a wild plethora of imagery and tentative brashness demonstrated to us by Alexandrina Hemsley and Jamila Johnson-Small in 'O'. The piece is segmented in a way that keeps you on your toes. It gives you a commentary on the process of making the work, and the distractions that come within the act of starting something new. This then somehow blends into themes of feminine sexuality, and how it is observed.…
Saturday, 26 January 2013 19:50
Resolution! Ieva Kuniskis, Ceyda Tanc Dance, NRG Dance Company
Written by Chantal Guevara
While Resolution! provides a platform for people's first choreographic steps, last night highlighted the difference between those who have started out as choreographers, and dancers who are dabbling in choreography. Ieva Kuniskis's Gone To Get Milk could be described as a work about three disturbed characters, each in their own way. And a lot of oranges. Gone To Get Milk starts entertainingly with Helen Aschauer running onstage, dropping oranges everywhere before running into the wings,…
Friday, 25 January 2013 12:37
Resolution! Charlie Dixon Dance Company, Elena Jacinta, Alotta Fagina
Written by Chantal Guevara
Some emerging artists use Resolution! as a choreographic sandpit, and this evening was very much an example of that approach. In the interval, Charlie Dixon explained that Long Road had been an opportunity for her to explore ideas and and ways of making work, without having fixed ideas about exactly what she wanted to achieve. Long Road opened dramatically, with the faint outline of Robert Keates staggering, repeatedly falling, crawling and gasping in complete darkness,…
Friday, 25 January 2013 10:58
Resolution! Arc, Tara D'Arquian, Sounding Motion
Written by Rachel Vogel
Eighty-one works form the line up for the Resolution! platform, a chance for new and newer choreographers to engage with creating work through a supportive network of people. The mixed bill offered in last night’s programme formed an eclectic focus for artistic merit, appealing to three different tastes in choreographic creation and execution.Leading was Arc’s A Sense of Beauty. A work appealing to and using the unique physiology of each dancer, the piece occurs mainly…
Tuesday, 22 January 2013 19:19
Resolution! Georgia Tegou, WatkinsDance, Matthew Robinson
Written by Chantal Guevara
Some evenings at Resolution! are better than others. Unfortunately, Saturday's triple bill did not fall into this category. Georgia Tegou's Yet Another Day was the product of a collaboration between Roehampton University and Royal Academy of Music students, which might have been an interesting experiment for both parties, however the result was absolute torture by music: avant-garde flute music, with an overreliance on high-pitched screeches. The agony of having to listen to this for approximately…
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 23:38
Resolution! MonixArts, RK Dance, MurleyDance
Written by Chantal Guevara
One thing which many people from other artforms tend to overlook is exactly how much time and hard work it takes to create a work of dance - which is important to remember when comparing a finished piece to its trailer or rehearsal video. That's especially true for Resolution!, a season of creativity and creative twists and turns for new choreographers, so that the finished product is rarely what one expects. We all love a…
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 23:19
Resolution! Chris Pavia, Tom Bowes Dance, Mazzilli Dance Theatre
Written by Anna Pearce
The night of Tuesday 15th January at Resolution! 2013 opened with Chris Pavia's Captured by the Dark, a fitting title for this eerily-staged duet between dancers Hannah Sampson and Tomos Young (both of Stopgap Dance Company, as is Pavia).A relationship is instantly set up between these two performers, the intensity of Young's gaze highlighted by Sampson covering her own eyes. There are human touches and subtle nuances of weariness or urgency that give a sense…
Sunday, 13 January 2013 21:01
Resolution! Liz Liew & Yuyu Rau, David Willdridge, Attach Dance Company
Written by Chantal Guevara
Last night's triple bill reinforced that Resolution! is ultimately about creating a space in which new and less-new choreographers can experiment artistically in a "safe" environment, largely consisting of family and friends, as we were reminded with Attach Dance Company's raucous welcome by the audience. Sometimes the results are less successful than others, but that's simply part of their process of developing as artists. The feel of experimentation is especially true for Yuyu Rau, who…
Well-known for his classic adaptations, Matthew Bourne has once again embraced the opportunity to recreate a fairy tale: Sleeping Beauty. Claiming a Tchaikovsky ballet for the third time running, Bourne has streamlined this story into a gothic retelling, adding whimsical elements to delight and surprise the audience.Originally choreographed in 1890 by Marius Petipa, Sleeping Beauty was then considered a technical venture of epic proportions. Narrowing the lens of the story, Bourne created token…
The Space in Westferry provided an intimate, up-close and somewhat cosy setting for this triple bill of work by C-12 Dance Theatre’s established and emerging choreographers.James Williams’s ‘In New Light’ opened the programme, demonstrating slick, fluid, well-rehearsed movement material performed on, over, around and underneath a black sofa. A duet for Williams and Ana Dias, ‘In New Light’ starts with a bang (a very loud bang, from live musician Janette Williams’s drumkit), and…
Some might describe Batsheva Ensemble as "NDT2 with beards". Both companies are peopled with prodigiously talented dancers in their late teens and early 20s, both perform works by Ohad Naharin - and in fact, part of the joy of this evening's performance was in seeing pieces previously performed at Sadler's Wells by NDT2 - but the similarity peters out there. Batsheva Ensemble's performances are an explosion of Gaga technique, the movement language developed…
Sideways Rain presents Alias' choreographer Guihermo Botelho's take on the evolution of mankind and our constant need to change and adapt. The cast of 16 dancers perform a series of movement in a continuous flow from left to right.It starts with performers crawling across the stage on a haunting score by Mexican composer Fernando Corona. Music and movement accelerates and the performers become almost like insects or primal creatures, relevant to the theme…
One of the great things about the performance space in the Robin Howard Dance Theatre at The Place is the proximity of the audience to the performers and their experiences on stage. As Charlotte Vincent’s cast of ten (five men, four women and one child) present their smiling selves to their audience in the opening of Motherland, the smiles connected and felt infectious, many in the audience smiling back at them.The opening moves…
Freedom, Jasmin Vardimon’s new work is a hard-hitting overload of scenarios, exploring what it is that creates freedom for the individual, ultimately posing the suggestion that this concept may only be possible in the imagination. Intriguing in concept, the actuality of this idea seemed to spill forth in a hazy, convoluted way, often muddying scenarios which had, at first, seemed clearer.A promising beginning, Vardimon (in collaboration with Guy Bar-Amotz) created a set which…
With a slap of a young woman’s foot on wood and an elbow jabbed to the sky, Arthur Pita’s God’s Garden bursts out of Eden and surges into an earthy mix of sin, jealousy and revenge. Set in Madeira in a suburban back garden, the piece is a take on the parable ‘The Prodigal Son’, following the narrative of a vengeful jilted bride and runaway groom. Traditional Portuguese folk dance is mixed with…
Cesena starts with a very sudden blackout. A single dim light beams onto the bare stage revealing hints of a large circle made out of salt or sand. The audience is thrown straight into the middle of the night for a journey through to daybreak. As the audience’s eyes are still getting use to the low light, silence is broken by frantic movement noises of a naked performer running around then stopping, facing…
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s work En Atendant is a mindful, peaceful, and simple work where each movement is a resonating hum in accord with her conceptual decisions. Consistently inspired by music, Keersmaeker has in previous works played with music by The Beatles, Mahler, Coltrane, and Reich, but in En Atendant, Keersmaeker has moved further back in history, to the late 14th Century, a musical period known as Ars Subtilior, a polyphonic form based…
Tuesday, 06 November 2012 14:36
Royal Ballet: Viscera, Infra & Fool's Paradise
Written by Kat Lister
Whispers titillate the Floral Hall that tonight's Triple Bill is a sign of things to come. A decade under the helm of Dame Monica Mason and the masses are expecting something different from newly-crowned Artistic Director Kevin O'Hare. Despite being dubbed a "practical" choice by some, it is worth noting that this evening's triple performance is entirely contemporary: not a MacMillan in sight. Which doesn't seem *so* practical, does it? It is also…
The curtain at Sadlers Wells opens on Russell Maliphant's opening night of The Rodin Project to reveal a set sumptuously dressed in flowing white linen, warmly lit, to the enchanting sound of Alexander Zekke's strings. The opening serves as a good indication of what is to come, as we are gradually introduced to Maliphant's six dancers in a tumble of fluid limbs and ever-changing levels and planes. The loin cloth-like costumes and clear…
Part narrative, part history lesson, Eddie Ladd and Judith Roberts in their work Gaza/Blaenannerch examine the Palestine and Israeli conflict with surprising artistic sensitivity. By paralleling Wales and Palestine by way of the struggle for an independent identity, these Welsh creators connect these countries and histories, allowing them both an objective and subjective standpoint on the situation. Seamlessly both choreographer and director navigate between movement and dialogue, developing a visual narrative with words,…
In a very busy Barbican Centre, an eclectic mix of audience members makes its way to the theatre to see the highly anticipated ‘New Work’ by the Michael Clark Company. The first half opens with Harry Alexander hanging on a wire, being brought down from above still and expressionless, characterising the company’s performance in the first half. Accompanied by an enchanting and easy listening score by Scritti Politti, eight dancers in simple black…
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