Dance-Forms 75th International Choreographers’ Showcase
at St Stephen’s Theatre
* * * * -
-Kerry Teakle, The Weereview, Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Delivers six distinct works by choreographers from the U.S.A, Italy, Helsinki and the UK in a programme shining with originality, athleticism and grace.

REVIEWS / DANCE / DANCE-FORMS 75TH INTERNATIONAL CHOREOGRAPHERS’ SHOWCASE KERRY TEAKLE | 8 AUG 2018

Celebrating 17 years at the Fringe, Dance-Forms’ 75th International Choreographers’ Showcase delivers six distinct works by choreographers from the U.S.A, Italy, Helsinki and the UK in a programme shining with originality, athleticism and grace.

Choreographed by Hayley Descavich, Subway Creatures displays great energy as two bare-footed dancers dressed in dark suits move to music by Balkan Beatbox as though they are weaving their way through a crowded subway.

An Edinburgh premiere, If, choreographed by Mariuca Marza, uses the words of Rudyard Kipling and calming music (Salento-Plaisirs D’Amour by Rene Aubry) as the dancer, Francesco La Macchia moves across the stage, beautifully interpreting the words of the poem.

Time and No Time, is another Edinburgh premier with choreography by Susana B. Williams, in collaboration with Brandon Lawrence, principal dance artist with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Lawrence also performs the piece to music by Bahramji & Maneesh De Moor’s Call of the Mystic. With great athleticism and wearing nothing but ballet shorts, there’s something very tribal and warrior like to the moves and the long lines that Lawrence creates is a thing of beauty.

Paging Into the Realm of Imagination is a section of an evening length work, titled Page, which will premiere in the summer of 2019 in Chicago. The dance, supported by the fund of Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship at the University of Wisconsin, sees four dancers – three females and one male – dancing to choreography by Jin-Wen Yu and unlike the majority of the other pieces uses props in the form of a table, crumpled pieces of paper and an old fashioned cast-iron iron, but this piece fails to move me.

She Hits a Wall, choreographed and performed by Hannah Myers in collaboration to music by Douglas Taige McMahon gives a nod to the Graham technique, the cornerstone of American dance and that opposition of contraction and release.

The final piece, Vivir, is choreographed and performed by Aylin Eleonara. Along with Time and No Time it is the standout performance.

Although born in Helsinki, Eleonara has perfected her craft of flamenco dancing by studying in Barcelona, Spain. This is a performance of two halves. In the first, she is dressed in a sumptuous black dress with silver glittery panel inlays. She captivates the audience as she executes the flamenco moves with great expression, fierce feet stomping, and graceful arm movements. The piece builds to a passionate crescendo as she uses a vibrant, bright orange scarf, which she sweeps around her much like a matador. A quick costume change into a white, wedding-like dress is as equally passionate. She wraps the dress around her, creating beautiful folds in the material, accentuating some of the Flamenco moves to finish this display of hugely impressive Spanish dancing.

This showcase in most cases is choreography stripped bare with few, if any props, and nothing but the dancers interpreting the moves. It’s a wonderful celebration of dance.

 

 

Review of "Dance-Forms' 72nd International Choreographers' Showcase" by Lucy Komisar.

http://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2016/09/edinburgh-fringe-dance-is-classical-jazzy-sometimes-almost-like-sculpture/

Edinburgh Fringe: dance is classical, jazzy, sometimes almost like sculpture

The Fringe is not only about theater. There is also dance. Here are performances I found important.

Dance Forms

The classic “Studies in Red,” 3 girls 2 boys, twists, turns, high kicks and poses in excellent form was a highlight of the Dance Forms show at Edinburgh.

This choreographers’ showcase has been presented at the Fringe for 15 years, and it’s a good chance to see an eclectic selection of creative dancers, ranging from traditional to minimal. In this case, the best were traditional! Of the dozen performances, I liked these four best.

Choreographer Lauren Speirs, who also danced in the piece, uses Philip Glass’ “The Hours” to set the mood, and the mode, which is on toe. The other very good performers are by Clare Bassett, Nicole Fedorov, Diamaid O’Meara, Gearoid Solan.

And the best of classics, Luisa Chaluleu of the National Ballet of Guatemala shows great technique in her modern, elegant, fluid interpretation of Bach’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, Allegro Moderato. “Multidirectional Concepts” was choreographed by Susana B. Williams.

For a change of pace, I liked “Get It While You Can,” Jada Rose Cunningham and David P. France dancing to France’s steps, music Terry Callier “Love Theme from Spartacus” and Joe Sample’s “Hippies On a Comer.”

It is jazz ballet at its best, angular, reaching, turning, they leap, arms flying to the “swing” piano.

In “Bound,” by McClaine Timmerman, danced to “Twins” by Gem Club, two couples, Dana Husary, Sarah Hong, Edgar Aguirre, John Barclay, put together the classical and the jazzy in their leaps and turns. Crisp and clean and appealing.

For information about how to participate in "Dance-Forms' International Choreographers' Showcase" contact Susana B. Williams, director at danceformspro@aol.com

 

 

Dance-Forms 74th International Choreographers’ Showcase

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Julie Morrice

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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 Nicolson Square is sparsely populated. That is a great shame because there is a lot to admire and enjoy here.

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.

 

"Time And No Time" Edinburgh Premiere

Relevant Reviews

'Dance-Forms' 74th International Choreographers' Showcase'Reviews

Five stars review for 'Dance-Forms' 74th International Choreographers' Showcase' by Julie Morrice.

http://young-perspective.net/dance-forms-74th-international-choreographers-showcase/

Arms swinging, body twisting, muscles rippling, Brandon Lawrence, soloist with Birmingham Royal Ballet performed “Angel.” Are his bent arms wings and his high kicks flight?. Indeed, he seems godlike in this improvised piece driven by electronic music by a Massive Attack (Mad Professor Remix) concept and directed by choreographer Susana B. Williams, who also helms Dance-Forms Productions

http://www.nytheatre-wire.com/lk170810t.htm

Lucy Komisar/The Stage

It gives me great pleasure to share the article/review "Dance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe" written by David Mead for Dancing Times Magazine. Click on the files acrobat link and scroll down to the second page of the article, you'll be able to read the review of "Dance-Forms' 74th International Choreographers' Showcase" with pictures by Garry Platt. Hard copy of the October issue of Dancing Time Magazine is available at www.dancing-times.co.uk

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/2b6922f2-3418-4e97-b249-5d67b84d4ef7

Danceforms' 60th International Choreographers' Showcase

Danceforms' 60th International Choreographers' Showcase: Review: ★★★★

Broadway Baby review for

Danceforms' 60th International Choreographers'
Showcase

by Heather Doughty on 7th
August 2012

Holding the attention of an audience for an hour of
dance, especially with a mish-mash of different styles, can be a challenge.
Granted, this performance is a ‘showcase,’ highlighting work from multiple
‘distinguished choreographers,’ so I was expecting to see variety. However, the
end result is a show lacking identity, splattered with some shining
performances which were few and far between and I found my mind drifting off
during certain solos.

The show presents five unrelated, and
uneven, pieces of choreography. We are welcomed in by a solo performance by
Emma Draves who performed her mix of ballet, contemporary and classical Indian
dance with polish and beautiful control. However, the accompanying chimes of
music left me rather cold, reminding me of sounds one might hear in a spa whilst
receiving a stress relief massage. For me, the highlight of the show was a
section titled ‘Come Change,’ performed and choreographed by Vincent E. Thomas.
The only piece in the concert using text, Thomas completely drew the audience
in with his frank address and honest discussion of quotidian stereotypes and
labels. This thought-provoking monologue linked seamlessly to his movement, an
exciting fusion of street and contemporary dance. Recognizing his passionate
performance, the audience whooped and cheered as his section came to an end -
far too early for my liking. I would recommend this show if only to see his
inspiring piece of choreography.

The other pieces were interesting and diverse, but didn’t strike the
same emotion for me as Thomas’ solo. There were flashes of fluidity and grace
from energetic partner work when dancers effortlessly rolled into each other’s
movements, building up a stimulating momentum. These moments were deeply
satisfying, and I was a disappointed when the energy dropped. Overall, the
concert is an enjoyable experience, full of passion and talent, yet nothing
presented was remarkably innovative. I feel Danceforms could have pushed the
boundaries further to really live up to their ‘award-winning’ hype.

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"Ixquic"

Fascinated with the stories of the Popol Vuh, the book of the myth of the Maya-Quiche people of Guatemala,  I created "Ixquic" to express through dance the encounter of Ixquic with Hunah-Pu. The scene takes place on the road to Xibalba where Ixquic finds the tree with the skull of Hunah-Pu, one of the twin brothers of the first generation who lost the Ball Game to the Lords of Xibalba. The spirit of Hunah-Pu seduces Ixquic, who will become the mother of the second generation of twin brothers named Ixbalanque and Hunah-Pu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQmUDfio85I&feature=share&list=UUcm9yO58fkluGb3FBKj0WNg

 To those interested in the myth of the Maya-Quiche people of Guatemala I recommend the reading of the Popol-Vuh.

"Ixquic"

Choreography: Susana B. Williams

Music: Duas Voces by Egberto Gismonte and Nana Vasconcelos

Costume: Original Mayan outfit

Performer: Susana B. Williams

About the artist: www.dance-formsproductions.com