Dance-Forms 74th International
Choreographers’ Showcase
·
Summary
The
dancers here clearly have a variety of experience.
5.0
With a
punchier show title and a less-challenging start time, this delightful and
thought-provoking smorgasbord of contemporary dance would be packing them in.
As it is,
at 9.15am the Emerald Theatre in
At nearly
two hours this looks like a lot of dance but it goes by in a whirl of
intriguing movement and strong young dance personalities. Time pressures meant
I had to leave before the final two numbers (out of a total of 11) and I was
really sorry to go.
Variety
is the name of the game here. But whether it is Roxanna Lewis’s “String Theory”
which combines speech, singing and dance or the tongue-in-cheek pantomime of
Douglas Dunn’s “Oh Acis” or the glorious physicality of Susana B. Williams’
“Angel” all the choreography has an honesty and directness that makes it a
pleasure to experience.
Part of
that honesty lies in the way the dance expresses and extends the music that
inspired it. In Shelley Siller’s performance of her own piece “Sol”, Beethoven’s
Moonlight Sonata seems to flow through the dancer’s limbs and thus out into the
audience with a simplicity and directness that is almost childlike and deeply
moving.
Likewise
Jin-Wen Yu’s “Fine, Without Me/You?” – a quirky love story set to a delicious
French score – comes tumbling out of its two performers with all the wit and
finesse of the great chansonniers.
All sorts
of ideas and emotions are explored in this quick-fire succession of pieces but
perhaps the most telling is ‘Singular Movements of Unravelling Truth” performed
by Kathy Diehl and Leanne Rinelli which explores ideas of individuality and
relationship in a subtle and fluid duet.
The
dancers here clearly have a variety of experience. Some, such as Jane Krantz
who performs Hannah Myers “La Chica de Rojo” with huge style and character, are
professional. Others are perhaps students but all give convincing and committed
performances. It’s a joy.
