| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 19-Apr-2013 The Place | The Place Prize finals 2013 |
 This week at The Place Prize finals we’re invited yet again to “Step into the dance debate” and help select a winner from the remaining four UK choreographers. The finals are the last round of a two-year process that whittled 208 applications into 16 new dance commissions, which were narrowed yet again in the semi-finals last fall to the final four. These pieces are Rick Nodine’s Dead Gig, Riccardo Buscarini’s Athletes, Eva Recacha’s The Wishing Well and h2dance’s Duet.
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| 20-Mar-2013 Royal Opera House: Linbury Studio Theatre | Arthur Pita's The Metamorphosis at the Royal Opera House |
 There isn’t much to say about Arthur Pita’s The Metamorphosis that hasn’t already been said. Returning the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre, this award-winning production is a dance-theatre imagining of Franz Kafka’s novella of the same name. I missed this production the first time, so was very interested in seeing it the second time around, and I wasn’t disappointed.
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| 15-Mar-2013 The Place | A versatile and unique night: bgroup's Just As We Are at The Place |
 bgroup’s Just As We Are had three very different sections, that explored a similar progression of ideas in three very different ways. In short, the pieces moved from focusing on one person, then two people, then everyone (audience included). However, the method and moods used in each gave the sections very distinct textures. I can’t quite tell you how, but director/choreographer Ben Wright pulls off this mash-up to give us a surprisingly unified night, with each piece hitting different notes.
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| 14-Mar-2013 Sadler's Wells: Lilian Baylis Studio | Ivan Blackstock's Wild Card at Sadler's Wells |
 I wanted to love Ivan Blackstock’s Wild Card night at Sadler’s Wells. With seven pieces, one pre-show performance and post-show DJs, there was almost three hours of material to engage with. I felt the passion Blackstock and his dancers had for their art, and their energy kept me going, almost. But as the night progressed, I struggled to enjoy the long-winded performance, and left wishing Blackstock had put more thought into curating the evening as a whole.
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| 7-Mar-2013 The Place | Scottish Dance Theatre double bill at The Place |
 Scottish Dance Theatre returned to The Place last week with a programme that kept you guessing, laughing and sometimes feeling a little uncomfortable, but undoubtedly the best part of the evening was experiencing the expressive honesty of the performers. Beginning the night was Second Coming by Rubber Band Dance Company’s Victor Quijada, followed by Jo Strømgren’s chilling Winter, Again.Read full review... | |
| 23-Feb-2013 Greenwich Dance: Borough Hall | Double bill of dance in Greenwich: Amstatten by Robert Clark and Ordinary Courage by Theo Clinkard |
 Greenwich Dance and Trinity Laban have partnered to put on a double bill of work, bringing together Amstatten by Robert Clark and Theo Clinkard’s Ordinary Courage at Greenwich Dance Agency. Clark’s work was fleeting but impressionable, containing some very beautiful artistic choices made by Clark and his team or artists. Clinkard’s Ordinary Courage followed a very basic and predictable structure, but there were many moments when the dancing and choreography were able to draw the attention away from this methodical framework.
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| 22-Feb-2013 The Place | An athletic display of urban contemporary: 2Faced Dance Company's Out of His Skin |
 2Faced Dance Company’s new work Out of His Skin is a pure adrenaline rush. This all-male company, lead by director Tamsin Fitzgerald, proves what the young, skilled body can accomplish. Drawing from urban roots, the company has all the explosions and stunts of break dance, but the real excitement is watching these dance artists refine the breaking vocabulary to find new depths physically and emotionally.
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| 12-Feb-2013 Sadler's Wells: Lilian Baylis Studio | An evening of tradition and the theatre space: Dan Canham's Wild Card at the Lilian Baylis Studio |
 Dan Canham’s Wild Card at Sadler’s Wells meandered through an interesting progression of folk dancing, artistic musings and charming traditions, and I came away with a smile and a lot to think about. This evening was part of a series of three performances in the Lillian Baylis Studio Theatre, which aims to give chosen artists a night to share their work, inspirations and ambitions. Canham’s show culminated in his eloquently easy solo 30 Cecil Street, a work that found its soul in the memories of a vibrant theatre, now closed and crumbling.
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| 12-Nov-2012 Sadler's Wells | Jasmin Vardimon's Freedom at Sadler's Wells |
 In what way would you set the stage for an exploration of freedom? Jasmin Vardimon’s vision adorns the Sadler’s Wells stage with large, spinning set pieces dripping with duct tube and green vines of industrial plastic. A camouflaged blanket made of rustling synthetic leaves makes sporadic entrances and exits to the scene. With a title like Freedom, you can’t help but anticipate a sort of happy-go-lucky traipse through the set pieces, lots of smiling, and a few peace signs. And while there was a section of ecstatic, open-armed running, and quite a few smiling faces, there was a lot of imagery that I didn’t expect – but still appreciated, as an honest exploration of an enigmatic concept.Read full review... | |
| 19-Oct-2012 Southbank Centre: Queen Elizabeth Hall | Chunky Move's Mortal Engine in London: An interesting night of live interactive technology |
 Chunky Move’s vibrant Mortal Engine came to the Southbank Centre this weekend, in a show that utilised some very exciting technical innovations, but seemed to lack the same innovative quality in the movement. Director and choreographer Gideon Obarzanek and his impressive team of sound and light artists delivered a performance that I had definitely never experienced before, and now I’m left with the question: what will they do next?
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| 22-Sep-2012 The Place | The Place Prize: Semi-Final 4 |
.jpg) Saturday’s Place Prize Semi-Final 4 showcased the work by the last of the 16 commissioned choreographers, and with it came the announcement of the four pieces chosen to move forward to the finals. The audience vote went to h2dance’s Duet from the second night, with an impressive vote of 4.1 out of 5 stars.Read full review... | |
| 20-Sep-2012 The Place | The Place Prize: Semi-Final 3 |
.png) The Place Prize Semi-Final continued on Thursday, with Nina Kov, Neil Paris, bgroup and Darren Ellis showcasing work in the third evening of this four-night series. The Place Prize, now in its fifth edition, is a competition aimed at encouraging engagement with contemporary dance. Sixteen choreographers were commissioned to create brand new works, which are then voted on by the audience and a panel of judges. These votes decide which four of the original 16 make it to the finals in April, to compete for the £35,000 prize.
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| 18-Sep-2012 The Place | The Place Prize: Semi-Final 2 |
 The second night of the Place Prize semi-finals proved even more entertaining than the first, with the next four choreographers vying for a spot in the final, and a chance to win £35,000. Mamoru Iriguchi, Rick Nodine, Dog Kennel Hill Project, and h2dance were the four choreographers billed in Saturday’s program, and each presented a new work that was enjoyable and memorable.
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| 16-Sep-2012 The Place | The Place Prize: Semi-Final 1 |
.jpg) The Fifth Edition of The Place Prize is in full swing as the first four semi-finalists presented their work Saturday night to a sold-out audience. Choreographers Joe Moran, Moreno Solinas, Tony Adigun and Riccardo Buscarini shared the first performance in the four-evening series, which features new work by 16 of the UK’s most exciting dance artists, all competing to be winner of The Place Prize and recipient of the £35,000 award.Read full review... | |
| 31-Aug-2012 Southbank Centre: Queen Elizabeth Hall | Marc Brew's Fusional Fragments: Fusing contemporary dance and ballet |
 Marc Brew Company’s Fusional Fragments lit up the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a double bill that marked the first night of performances in the Southbank Centre’s Unlimited festival, a project showcasing work by deaf and disabled artists alongside the London Paralympic Games. Fusional Fragments, featuring live percussion by Dame Evelyn Glennie, was a highly intricate work that lived up to its title.Read full review... | |
| 7-Aug-2012 Sadler's Wells | Slovak National Folklore Ballet Lúčnica brightens Sadler's Wells |
 Led by Prof. Štepan Nosál’, Slovak National Folklore Ballet Lúčnica’s Forever Young filled Sadler’s Wells with a radiant energy that was truly a refreshing delight. The programme was as diverse as it was entertaining, with dances from the many different regions of Slovakia, and each dance boasted more elaborate costumes and props than the last. It was an evening to remember, with dance and music that celebrated Slovak culture and invited everyone in the audience to join in the fun.
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| 26-Jun-2012 Greenwich Dance: Borough Hall | Handspring Puppet Company's Crow |
 Haunting scenes and brooding prose make Handspring Puppet Company’s Crow a shadowy addition to this year’s Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. Layered with dark imagery, Handspring, in collaboration with Ben Duke’s Lost Dog dance company, presents a winding take on Ted Hughes’ Crow, splicing his poetry with movement and intricate puppet representations of the crow.
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| 12-Jun-2012 Sadler's Wells | Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch at Sadler's Wells: ...como el musguito en la piedra... |
 In celebration of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch is in London performing ten different works inspired by places around the world, and last night’s Chile-inspired …como el musguito en la piedra, ay si, si, si… was a polished example of the excellence of the company’s dancers and the genius of Pina Bausch. Como el musguito, like the other global works, was part of an international series of co-productions, where Bausch and her company would live in cities around the world, then make work based on their experiences.Read full review... | |
| 29-May-2012 Sadler's Wells | Danza Contemporánea de Cuba's Triple Bill brings a splash of colour to Sadler's Wells |
| Danza Contemporánea de Cuba returned to Sadler’s Wells with a splash of colour and a burst of energy in a triple bill that was physical, sharp and flirty. Unfortunately I missed the first work performed, Itzik Galili’s Sombrisa, but the night was not a loss. Kenneth Kvarnström’s Carmen?! showed a playful exuberance, while George Céspedes’ Mambo 3XXI had an accessible message and tons of high-energy and intricate movement.
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| 9-May-2012 Sadler's Wells: Lilian Baylis Studio | An experiment of contradictions: Daniel Linehan's Zombie Aporia at the Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre |
 Playfully idiosyncratic and multidimensional, Daniel Linehan’s Zombie Aporia is a collection of six short pieces, each with its own distinct flavour. In his second visit to Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre, New-Yorker Daniel Linehan focused on bringing together contradictions. By combining different contrasting ideas, Linehan explored the result of these contradictions, and even questioned the norms that dancers and audience members take for granted.Read full review... | |
| 4-May-2012 The Place | Gecko's Missing at The Place |
 Gecko visited The Place last week with Missing, a thrillingly dark narrative of a woman struggling with shadows of her past, as she is bombarded with the present demands of her fast-paced life. What made this performance so captivating was not necessarily the story itself, but the creative and technical choices made by director Amit Lahav and the performers to enrich this story. Ultimately the show was an example of physical theatre of the highest calibre – full of thought-provoking imagination and creative innovation.
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| 17-Apr-2012 The Place | An Eclectic Evening: Robert Clark and Darren Ellis dance at the Place |
 In the first evening of The Place’s 2012 Spring Loaded showcase, Robert Clark and Darren Ellis dance presented two very different pieces that made for an enjoyable but eclectic show. The night began with Darren Ellis’ Long Walk Home, a series of solos performed by four women, who are at different points in their lives, investigating their current relationship with dance.Read full review... | |
| 16-Mar-2012 The Place | Protein Dance at The Place: LOL (Lots of Love) |
 photo by Nuno Santos.jpg) Protein Dance revisited The Place this weekend to perform LOL (lots of love), a fresh and explosive work about love, relationships and our growing obsession with the internet and social media. Originally premièred in January 2011, LOL has been on tour around the UK since its return from a recent tour of the Middle East. Now back in London, Protein was as sharp as ever. LOL synthesized music, video, spoken word and dance to deliver a performance that was funny, sweet and thoughtful.
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| 14-Mar-2012 Royal Opera House: Linbury Studio Theatre | Shobana Jeyasingh sets off 25th Anniversary Celebration with Classic Cut at the Royal Opera House |
| Classic Cut at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre is the first project in a three-year-long celebration to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Shobana Jeyasingh Dance. The evening contained one completely new work Dev Kahn Hai?/Where is Dev?, and a reworking of Configurations, one of Jeyasingh’s first choreographic endeavours in the 1980s. As in all of Jeyasingh’s work, both pieces used the vocabulary of classical Indian dance as a starting point, which was then layered with contemporary movement and choreographic choices.
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| 9-Mar-2012 The Place | Scottish Dance Theatre's Spring Tour comes to London |
 With touching honesty and keen articulacy, Scottish Dance Theatre presented a diverse mixed bill at The Place that contained in equal parts compelling choreography and masterful dancing. The highlight of the night was indisputably Rachel Lopez de la Nieta’s Pavlova’s Dogs, a forty-minute investigation that questions gender roles in the dance world, framed as an early psychological experiment. However, the first half of the program did not disappoint, with a solo by Israeli choreographer Idan Cohen, as well as two works created by emergent choreographers from within the company.
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| 29-Feb-2012 Sadler's Wells | Richard Alston Dance Company at Sadler's Wells: A triple bill highlighting Alston's musicality |
 True to their usual standard of extraordinary craftsmanship and virtuosic dancing, Richard Alston Dance Company brought a mixed bill of new and old works to Sadler’s Wells. The evening’s programme included three pieces: Alston’s Roughcut, which premièred in 1990; Lie of the Land, a work by rehearsal director Martin Lawrance; and one of Alston’s newest choreographies, A Ceremony of Carols.Read full review... | |
| 17-Feb-2012 Royal Opera House, Clore Studio Upstairs | Guest Suites: The Many Facets of Bach's Cello Suites |
 Jacky Lansley is not the first to choreograph to Bach’s iconic Cello Suites, but her world première Guest Suites represents three years of research and dialogue with the music, strengthened by the contributions of artistic “guests” present at different stages of the work’s development. Joining Lansley in heading this ambitious project was composer Jonathan Eato, who engaged with the suites through his own compositions, inserted between the original Bach Suites.
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| 2-Feb-2012 Old Vic Tunnels | Without Warning: An ode to the captive psyche |
 In the thick musty air of the Old Vic Tunnels, the Without Warning cast, led by choreographer Lizzi Kew-Ross, delivered a haunting exploration of the writer Brian Keenan’s more than four years in captivity, with a cacophony of sound, light and movement. Keenan’s story, documented in his book An Evil Cradling (1991), reflects on the years he spent kept in captivity by Islamic fundamentalists. Keenan’s account describes the terror and horror of isolation, the dehumanizing conditions and treatment, and mental and emotional deconstruction he endured.Read full review... | |
