Song of Songs, choreographed by Pam Tanowitz collaborates with composer David Lang, The production is inspired by an exploration of Jewish dance history, establishing two worlds of surrealism and transparency to create an equilibrium of openness and realness. Produced by Caleb Hammons and Jason Collins to infuse the notion of life, beauty, magic, compassion and human connectivity within the association of life in a divine interlinked extract of percussion music, poetry and movement that liberates ancient rituals of sincerity, dignity and agape.
Song of Songs as a biblical poem of yearning, magnetically and majestically astral travelling the audience into an invigorating journey diving into tangible elements of experiences within the physical realm, within the real world.
In this production, the instinctive essence of New York-based Tanowitz beautifully expands on classical dance using metaphorical distinctive language to examine chapters of complexity and freedom simultaneously. The empowerment was deeply engrained through delicate lifts, light head turns, soft dim lights overhead spins and captivating gentle touch, eye glances over poetical sounds and sacred tradition.
MOS, presented by Barbican and Dance Umbrella, choreographed by Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, playfully explored the relationship between sound and movement in bewitching different ways. Featuring multimedia & pumping vigorous, upbeat looping sounds filtered into the space; accompanied by surrounding plungers, steel bins, a mini wooden door, forest leaves and twigs, tap dancing shoes, roller-skates, a basketball, sticks, sand trays & many more intriguing objects across the entire stage.
Each rehearsed & choreographed expression of sound and movement was perfectly synchronised to the tuned out media, tightly reflective of gestures played out by the actors who hypnotically worked in duality to devise repetition and rhythm to outlet electrifying energy to stimulate our gaze & catch our attention throughout. The visual imagery was acted out by the actors using various sounds from each object in a vibrant way, which allowed the mind to ignite imagination, as the actors enthusiastically watched each action acted out by mimicking the storytelling narratives from the screen, creating an intimate reality to watch the screen and occasionally observe the motion on the stage simultaneously, as we immersed into two separate worlds, consisting of animated expression blended in with real time sound effects and dance, very impressive to watch!
MOS, is an exciting fusion of humour and poetical metaphors through expansive movements and sound. This production ended with tap dancing moves, grooves & of course; sound, looped over & over through potent vibrations and high frequencies, which circulated non-stop energy, passion, innovation and creativity; until they both yearned for the essence of silence, naked quietness, appreciation of soundless motion to alter the ambience and atmosphere; which left us finding the beauty, thriller and adventure, getting lost in radio waves, echos and muffled noise. In and out volumes & subtitles highlighted the themes; in-figurative souls, delicacy, enchantment, discrete, frightened, petrified and unapologetic incentives as we moved in-between different effects, genuine expression and fluid energy.
Pioneering South Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn, premiere’s the exquisite production Dragons. Witnessing ‘Dragons’ is a fusion of both traditional and modern dance styles, centred around music and non-stop movement infusing culture, rhythm and poetical essence from across Asia, which connects the young with the elders, where they both come to terms with the concepts, changes to embrace the vitality of an inter-connected world that calls for adaption, simplicity and interpersonal growth to with an inevitable changing & circulating universe, world & dimension.
The feature of holograms throughout Dragons gives this production a special, diverse energy into the captivating space created by the Avantgarde choreographer Eun-Me Ahn’s latest kaleidoscopic production, which exhibited an empowering execution from her extraordinary company of flexibly enchanting dancers, who individually interacted on stage with holograms of five inspiring young performers from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Education, warmth, freedom, water & all the in-between to reflect expression, movement, liberation, originality takes formulation of movement, touch, physicality and sensuality, sprung culture, solidarity and global unification. The vibrancy of colour whether through the clothing, traditional outfits, holograms and or significant lighting cinematic effect; brought the space alive and told a story of beauty, love, passion, progression, soul purpose, magnitude, togetherness, hope, future endeavours, vulnerability & success.
Above-all, Dragons is a fantastic way to absorb the power of Asian past and present culture, whilst bringing about a collective form of magnet impulsivity and grip of focused gratitude and feeling of emotions, service and the ability to feel music, contemporary and hip hop dance, alongside traditional dance movement in a non-unapologetic and self accepting way.
The Meaning of Zong is written, co-directed with Tom Morris, and stars Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards winner Giles Terera, the play is produced by Bristol Old Vic and performed at the Barbican Theatre.
In The Meaning of Zong, you gently travel back to the divine memories of each slave captive’s life and homeland before their freedom was stolen, every time you hear the subtle words repeated ‘you’re a from a place, where the land & mountains are strong, the animals are beautiful & the people, great. Through The Meaning of Zong we journey through the savagery of the slave trade, where identity was forcibly lost and pain, death, suffering, and torture resulted in trauma.
Generational trauma is a reoccurring strong theme seen throughout, creating the revolutionary quest of Gustavus Vassa, who had bought his freedom, but always knew his life was not the fate of many indigenous Africans, who were kidnaped as he was. The Meaning of Zong reveals Gustavus Vassa’s traumatic experiences through flashbacks and sensitivity due to captivity and family separation, leading him to chase hope and adventure, and therefore determined to find justice for the lives lost during the crossover to the West Indies before reaching the United Kingdom. This production retells the magnificent true story of the painful enforcement on Africans having to lose their mother tongue language, forget their Identity and detach from their culture, causing invested abolitionists to end slavery led by Gustav to fight the battle of political & racial injustices carried out against humanity.
Another powerful theme explored in The Meaning of Zong is survival, where we metaphorically get to acknowledge the differences between swimming and drowning. As well as, what it means not to become a victim during the storm, but a survivor in the mist of challenges, deprivation, anguish & turmoil. This is shown using thin blue ropes to show the opposition of the waves, the strength of the sea, and individuals having to overcome the wrath of the sea they got thrown into, showing the strength and resilience of Africans during this era, both physically and mentally.
African spirituality is another strongly prevalent theme, depicted through rhythmic drumming, beautifully incorporated by onstage Music Director and Composer Sidiki Dembele. The powerful African drumming throughout takes the audience on an invigorating journey of passion to rise against the odds, be hurt but not be broken, drowned but unable to die. Reaching the peak of an ultimate strength of victory, love, mission, and completion of an enchanting legacy to come.
The Meaning of Zong heightens an awareness of not only historical black British citizens, but descendants of Africa’s undiscovered stories, legacies, and abolitionist’s underlying power. As three female slaves reminisce on their mothers cooking during captivity on a ship taking them further away from home, descriptively referencing their traditional dish, Jollof rice, being made with tender love and care, well flavoured with divine preparation, and despite being made slightly differently, they eventually all relate and intimately connect emotionally during their discussions. A Beautiful moment!
The costume design, set design, music and lighting effects were extremely spectacular, giving you a real feel for London city in the 16/17th century, conditions on a slave ship and The Houses of Parliament. Giving you a deep insight into how mistreatment was justified through Christianity, politics, and law, to legalise brutality & discrimination to justify it all as necessity.
Overall, seeing the transition from Gustav Vassa to officially Olaudah Equiano in the second part of the show was a powerful dynamic, retaining his name was a spiritual rebirth for him due to Great Britain’s ritual at the time to enforce the ‘no name, no home, no Africa agenda onto Africans until it manifested. Olaudah Equiano, had to overcome his post-traumatic stress to win against his trials and tribulations, willing to lose all his wealthy possessions. The Meaning of Zong, the ship, is a truly raw depiction of the colonial period which still marks an everlasting fight for justice throughout the world today, bringing about a revolution for everlasting justice due to scars & unhealed wounds, inspired by writer and abolitionist, Gustavus Vassa.
A wonderful play on determination to find peace and fight for justice, that led to a written memoir, which may one day be found on your local bookstore shelf, possibly misplaced, however landing in the right hands inevitably, where you may be that individual to put it into its right place.
Family Tree, directed by Matthew Xia, greatly explores the era of segregation in the 1950’s, where Henrietta Lacks, performed by Aminita Francis takes to the stage to tell her story.
Playwright, Mojisola Adebayo
Playwright, Mojisola Adebayo poetically enacts how Henrietta Lacks, diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951, endured difficulty to find treatment, leading her to turning towards St Johns Hopkins hospital, being the only hospital, medically treating black people at the time.
Production Photographs: Helen Murray
Aminita Francis, greatly enacts snippets of Henrietta’s personality as we see her disgust and detest for George Guy, the researcher for tissue culture at Hopkins hospital, who’d been trying to grow human cells outside of the human body for hundreds of years! We see the disturbance on Henrietta’s face as she dives in to the cheekiness, elaborating on how her cells were taken without her consent or knowledge and to be quite frank, why wouldn’t she!
Setting the scene, we get a good feel for the other amazing actresses playing multi-rolling parts as ancestors and nurses, played by Mofetoluwa Akande, Keziah Joseph & Aimée Powell, expressing their annoyance towards exploiters like George Guy, and stress the importance on the roots of racial injustices and the disproportionate inequalities in health care who never gave credit to the descendants of Henreitta Lacks irresistible cells and black people as a whole who have contributed greatly to society world-wide.
The set design by Simon Kenny is remarkable, with glowing, hanging immortal cells on a tall branched tree, an expression for Henrietta’s forever growing and dividing cells for years, where every medical centre wanted it for research, spreading vast across the entire world. Becoming one of the most important concepts for medicine, being used for space emission to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, created cancer medications, cloned for genes, helped to make the polio vaccine, mapping and the important ingredient used for all vaccines mankind injects, the entire world has undeniably benefitted from Henrietta’s cells.
However we also see how the most important cancer cells used for medical research, took her life also in October 1951, at the age 31 , never knowing how important her cells would be, until a science writer worked with the family to discover the truth, the uncovered well hidden legacy 5 decades later.
Family Tree is a strong reminder of what Henrietta has done for the world, and the mixed emotions of this incredible woman’s involvement in science especially, alongside the anger black people carry seeming everyone else can and has benefited from this, apart from black people, apart from the family. Immortal cells used all over the world for scientists research , labs and yet black people all over the world especially the family continue to suffer from basic health care.
This production paints a family tree of Black women whose cells, blood and waters have birthed, raised and changed the world by preserving her legacy. Family Tree is a vocal statement about Henreitta’s life and the (HeLa) genome, science and communications, and race and science, the history of science and medicine, and how it was built on the backs of black people without their knowledge. The concepts of what blackness means in a world that refuses to accept and embrace true history. Especially the unique story of HeLA, who continues to save lives, giving life, as her special cells can invigorate fertilisation, people till today still report being able to give birth thanks to HeLa cells, which is one of the many beautiful impacts of an incredible black woman who has been denied her place in history, which director, Matthew Xia, highlights creatively.
Catching up with playwright Mojisola Adebayo after the play, was insightful. Mojisola Adebayo, has done an incredible lyrical justice by enabling this play to be a poetical masterpiece, by powerfully executing the realities of race, inequality, health, the environment and the incredible legacy of one of the most influential Black women of modern times, Henrietta Lacks, whose influence on modern-day medicine, is so relevant, it can and will never be forgotten.
Family Tree metaphorically expands on beauty, in the context of honesty, life and our connection to nature, Orishi, the Nigerian goddess, talking trees, movement of expression through spiritual dance & connectivity. The power and manipulation of a slave owner is seen throughout this play, as well as many spiritual, ritualistic mediums of truth, love and ancestral rhythm which chants hope for all black people have lost, in the fight for power, peace and longevity. Family Tree is full of metaphorical, symbolic and spiritual codes, languages and passion, highly recommended!
This production will be touring nationally until, June 13 – 17. You can find out more about the production and book tickets here.
Cassa Pancho is the founder & Artistic Director of Ballet Black. Upon her graduation in 2001, she gained a degree in classical ballet where her journey to found Ballet Black began, produced with the aim to provide role models for young, aspiring black and Asian dancers to feel empowered irrespective of the discrimination black ballerinas continue to experience worldwide.
Pioneers by Black Ballet, Co-commissioned & performed at the Barbican Centre is a time travelling storytelling, adventure of dance, poetry, jazz, music, passion, magic and aspiration. Featuring nine breath-taking dancers named: Jose Alves, Sayaka Ichikawa, Isabela Coracy,Mthuthuzeli November, Ebony Thomas, Alexander Fadayiro, Helga Paris-Morales, Taraja Hudson and Rosanna Lindsey.
William Tuckett, choreographer of the first section of the ‘Then Or Now, takes the audience Into an adventure of love, war, connection and human experiences. The work features poetry by Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), directed by Fiona L Bennett, with poetry recordings from Hafsah Bashir, Natasha Gordon & Michael Shaeffer. The costume designer was by Yukiko Tsukamoto. The concept of using poems was distinctive, meaningful and enchanting. The themes explored were attachment, love, hope and the journey of humanity. During this set, we symbolically see character building, the symbolic passing objects to reflect connection and warmth in an abstract way and expressed through grandiose ballet movements of fluidity, subtle gestures, soft lifts and poetical turns.
The second half features Mthuthuzeli November’s Nina: By Whatever Means. This work embarks on storytelling the life journey of Nina Simone. Each dance piece demonstrates Nina’s zest for life, her influential messages, her spiritual nature and sound – risen from her powerful statements in the past such as; ‘An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times‘. During the beautiful melodic set of her track ‘Sinnerman’ we are exposed to how Nina worked all her life to become a black classical pianist, growing into a beautiful woman with ambition, life and depth. It was evident whilst watching that the aim of retelling Nina Simone was not to play her greatest hits but to show her fight for success, passion and reflect how she set herself for us the right way to be artists.
It was magnifying to re-live Nina Simone showcasing her talent live in this piece of work, especially due to the impact that was well portrayed choreographically, as it foretold the feel her music had, her breath and attitude, as well as her struggles, battles and turmoil she faced, where the rest of the dancers became her inner demons, as well as her inner powers, which was moving to see.
Starting off with Baby Nina, the aim is clear that her story is to be told choreographically and not show the legacy of her life musically. Telling her story & her life journey from being young and innocent, unexpecting of non-stop worldly attacks for becoming a conscious black musician and soulful artist for humanity. The theme being loss and power, due to how black lives are forced to lose their innocence but restored again by finding and fighting back with power.
The Ballerina ‘Isabela Coracy’ who played Nina Simone quoted ‘Every night is an investigation to play Nina simone to know who she truly was, there are loads of ballets to learn and therefore, she is still discovering how to capture the details of Nina Simone through dance to reflect her sense of power correctly, especially when listening to her song ‘Sinnerman’ what it represents and the incredible burning love she had for humanity.
Ballet Black is a safe space that evidently reopens eyes to know what it means to be an artist and acknowledge non-discrimination as a top principal, where you can think about being an artist to embark on the notion that aims to continue to normalise freedom, diversity, empowerment and love within society.
NINA: By Whatever Means: Co-commissioned by the Barbican. Choreography: Mthuthuzeli November Lighting: David Plater Costume design: Jessica Cabassa Composers: Mandisi Dyantyis, Mthuthuzeli November & Nina Simone (1954-2002) Featuring the voices of the Zolani Youth Choir
MSND (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) explores subjective narratives & misconceptions perceived by young people, however transparently told from the perspective of young people collaboratively. IYT’s (Intermission Youth Theatre ) Artistic Director Darren Raymond, supported by trustee Mark Rylance presents MSND at the Chelsea Theatre.
MSND is a euphoric feeling psychedelic which transports you mentally to a fantastical world of self discovery and adventure where you lose yourself to re-find yourself. Starting off with Mario, troubled at the end of youth, feeling deeply trapped by his past mentally & emotionally.
MSND – found in balloons, liquid & vaperizers, widening your eyes to skyrocket the test of temptation, bringing you closer to salvation if you succeed. We preview both Gerard and Vincent at the beginning as teenagers getting up to mischief, struggling to relieve their boredom, will drugs help them to escape or worsen their current state?…
Expressively channeling poetic literature, expressed through modern Shakespeare to portray the 21st century’s sense of youth identity, sub-culture, community issues, levels of responsibility & pleasure & true mental growth to pull everyone’s direction towards hope, fulfilment & change for a better future.
This play exhibits the peer-pressure & over-rated influence of drugs experienced by young people whilst remodelling the beauty & power of Shakespeare’s language. This production is ready to be experienced for just over 4 weeks until 3 December. If you haven’t been to an IYT production yet, I urge you to experience it – most definitely a must see!
You can find out more about the production and book tickets here
Choreography and Music: Hofesh Shechter Performed by: Shechter II Lighting Design: Tom Visser Original Costume Design: Osnat Kelner
The eight performers performing in Contemporary Dance 2.0 from Hofesh Shechter and his award winning company Shechter II, were; Tristan Carter, Cristel de Frankrijker, Justine Gouache, Zakarius Harry, Alex Haskins, Oscar Jinghu Li, Keanah Faith Simin and Chanel Veyent. They are sensational, adapting perfectly to the Shechter style, which is one minute smooth and sinuous as silk and the next pulsing to a frantic beat of rapid, exhausting movement, as relentless as a heartbeat.
Each dance piece gets divided into five sections, which were signed by the dancers holding up rough cardboard. It begins, with my all time favourite ‘Pop’, with Michael Jackson inspiration posing, followed by ballroom, frantic, electric jumps & contemporary dance moments of joining hands and forming multiple, beautiful dance stunts & visual images.
Freedom of expression through sensory movements were expressed by all eight dancers’ synchronised & projecting an aura of internal power through pop dance, feelings of motherhood and pain/relief experienced by our bodies channeling energy in complex journeys. Seductively taking eyes across the audience as their bodies effortlessly & vigorously flop and rise with their fluidity hypnotised, leaving you mesmerised to the depths of how pop culture, embodying Michael Jackson – the King of Pop’s symmetrical famous moves.
The music was upbeat. In beat we witnessed a fusion of dance styles such as krumping, popping, electro funk gliding to the counts within the music flow that went to the rhythm of 1,2,3,4 – however, automatically speeding up to match their heartbeats drumming to the beats 2,4,6,8. This soon boomed to a higher frequency as they began spinning, break out dancing and exploiting various other dance sensations like ballroom & contemporary thanks to the Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter.
Each dancer colourfully dressed visually moved our brains as their facial expressions epically motioned feelings of strain, reactions of excitment & vanity. You could feel the dancers’ hearts race, pumping to the counts of 10, 20, 30, and 40.
A 50 minute non-stop fusion of intensity taken to the stage. Hope was their supply, influence was their leader, precautions were their discipline, and spirit guided was their teacher. Flexible bodies slid springing along the floor; resonating solitary on stage, the lights set the mood remaining predominantly dim lit.
Well incorporated into the dance moves were light bouncing, embracing, smiling, culture, architecture of hearts rejoicing, as their bodies sprung like tigers. Towards the end played ‘The End’ by Frank Sinatra. It became an expression of unity and life between the past and present of home manifested through pop, hip hop & other dancing styles high on energy, moving to a completely different beat working strangely well, appearing extremely beautiful towards the end.
The music consisted of heavy deep drums and heartfelt string instruments. The ambience was uplifting as it radiated emotions of tranquillity, hope, victory and a full tribe of life. Each dancer individually performed a solo as themselves, which conveyed their stamped identity. Towards the end all moves moulded into one! A high off of energy, fire and enjoyment, zero stopping until the stage was cleared making you want to watch forever. Not to be missed!
‘The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes’ projects insight into the world’s fragmented misconceptions when it comes to disability and how much of this world as a collective perceives ‘difference’ negatively.
Well performed by cast members Simon Laherty , Sarah Mainwaring, & Scott Price from Back to Back theatre company, a neurodiverse theatre company based in Australia.
Each cast members visible disability became heavily overlooked due potent humour, indirect audience rage & views on adaptation, whilst remaining themselves in character. The message elaborated in this production was incredibly touching, inspiring & reflective. The method is simple when they meet in a Town Hall as a trio, to change the way disabled people are viewed, labelled & treated.
The statements highlighted in this play were on derogatory universal language, terminologies towards those who’ve been born with a disability, the internal conflict to why Sarah strongly disliked seeing subtitles up on the screen behind her during the play & her confidence to lead in conversation!
The biggest status quo that lingered during this production was society’s notions about inferiority complex, misfortune, restrictions, exclusion, limitations, various forms of oppression & emotional barriers related to a narrow minded gate thinking, human conditioning & social justice for change.
The Internal questions for the audience explored the framework of re-learning to look beyond the surface & see people as people without critical judgments! The play explores objective thoughts on disability, repositioning power status to embody strength, charisma, leader influence within politics, non – discriminatory job opportunities; free from harassment, pain & societal neglect… I couldn’t agree more!
Most importantly, are the people who’ve labelled themselves as mentally & physically stronger unaware of the rising epidemic ‘intellectual disability’ a phenomenon which’ll dumb down emotions, ability to think & physically restrict human beings from being able to function, haven given too much of their strengths over to the powers that be without a sense of self or acknowledgement on how this phenomenon will impact our future generations wellbeing, health, mental state & cognitive ability.
From Autism, Asberger’s syndrome to other physical & learning disabilities; are we about to realise a major disadvantage due to AI? Will Artificial Intelligence treat disabilities futuristically & Intellectually disable – if so, can it be stopped in time or are we already walking daily towards a tech weapon of mass destruction?
A truly reflective, deep & well performed show to help educate, raise awareness & help create social change amongst communities! This insightful production will be touring to Brighton and Leeds until 5th Nov! Grab a ticket, you won’t regret it ;)).
‘Africa Fashion Week’ successfully celebrated its 12th year anniversary on the 8th & 9th October 2022 taking place in London, Freemason Hall. To ensure 2023 fashion show was another sell out 2022 had to be truly African infused & it truly was!!!
Credit Tanica Psalmist
A grand exhibition showcasing several merchants, latest garments & handmade jewellery made from various crystals, minerals and materials such as ebony and stone for starters! It’s no doubt that the Motherland was truly represented with deep infused floods of Africa’s rich culture, boutiques, diverse beauty & celebratory inspirations, influence & contentment oozing from the models onto the audience.
Credit Tanica Psalmist
I attended both days to glimpse AFW in every detail & glory from behind scenes, mental preparation to the adequate appreciation for the designers clothes, which all were worn to perfection! Many of the Fashion designers this year included; Pills, LN Watches , Sluvin Designs & Durban South Africa , Gugu Boutique, May M Designs, Massassi B, Twelve19styles, Ethnicity Clothing , Fresh by Do Turn, Slungile Mokoena Designer, Black Snow Men , Dogan Culture , Fashion Ash & many more great legends who’s brands captured, elevated & fulfilled the purpose to represent African designs on a global & grand scale.
AFW is more than just about diverse beauty, fashionistas, togetherness, celebration, unity, embracement, inspiration – it’s about elegance, royalty, Deity, learning, engagement & witnessing the beauty of freedom, culture, love, passion & acceptance.
Credit Tanica Psalmist
A typical start at AFW entails early starts booming intense makeup prep, dress & tech rehearsals & in return audience energy, infusion & model excellence! The unpredictability of unexpected authentic African dance styles is what makes poses equally exciting! certain poses entailed dance styles, such as; Ikpirikpi- Ogu (war dance), Atilogwu (Acrobatic Dance), Mmanwu (masquerades), Omuru onwa & Agbacha-ekuru-nwa, Indlamu, Adumu, Kete to name a few, hitting our eyes with eloquent spins, twirls & flirtation. The entire atmosphere took you to the African continent flight free for a truly memorable, captivating & rewarding evening.
https://youtu.be/GGQOCcptMeE
AFW’s statement this year was to love yourself unconditionally & that your worth is not determined by the worth of high end fashion brands but by the price of realness, quality, uniqueness, happiness, tranquility, innocence, projecting your soul & to embrace the individuality of African culture, passion & depths of the motherland’s diversity.
Credit Tanica Psalmist
Nothing spoke louder then Sunday’s event where we witnessed the community within the audience come to life! oozing out positive intelligence, passion, enthusiasm, self love & a reminder to be you & live as you & be the best person of yourself, good job AFW – ROLL ON AFW 2023!!!
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
(5 / 5)
(4 / 5)
