Category Archives: Dance

Dance is a Work of Love – An Interview with Rosalind Crisp by Eva Marloes

I meet Rosalind Crisp in the upstairs theatre at Chapter. ‘This is my space,’ she says. She takes long strides and almost dances to get to her bag. She asks me whether I’m a dancer and looks a little disappointed when I tell her that I’m not. I tell her that I’ve been started to write about dance recently and have fallen in love with it. ‘With a dancer?’ she asks. ‘No, with dance.’ She looks surprised and bemused. She ponders where to have the interview and some lunch. She thinks the café downstairs might be too noisy for my recorder. I tell her that she needs to eat. I feel I’m taking her away from her safe haven to plunge her into the midst of eaters and drinkers, and a film crew filming just outside the café.

Crisp is one of the foremost choreographers in contemporary dance worldwide. In 2015, she was awarded the highest recognition in France as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres; yet she is unassuming, kind, and generous. She gives me her time freely and doesn’t mind when my questions become an interrogation. She takes time to explain her aesthetics and idea of dancing without a hint of pride.

Crisp recounts her journey as dancer and choreographer and says, “Some time ago there was a shift, I think it’s when I started working on my own. … In the beginning it was catching the movements and later it was about the way I was producing the movements which has led to my work of the last 15 years.’ 

Crisp’s radical approach is a close observation of where the body wants to go, the patterns established by years of training and habits, the ‘history,’ as she calls it, of the training that dancers have and that stops them from being aware of where the movement comes from and making different choices. She says, “I suppose I noticed with dancers that if they do things unquestioned that doesn’t interest me, … I would call it the history stuck with them. They haven’t questioned it in that moment. It has more power over them than the present moment because they’re forgetting. They do that and don’t realise that it’s actually just their history speaking,” she laughs.

Crisp’s idea of unlearning dance is a gaining of awareness of movement. She says, “I got very interested in what happens before a movement, what happened after I moved … how actually not do the dancing that I thought was dancing in order to open up a bigger view of what it might be.” 

The awareness she seeks takes many years of rigorous training to develop. She says, “I have the same dancers for years and years. … I never say ‘do this or that,’ they’re so deeply in the work. They’re so amazing. They learn so thoroughly to dive into someone’s work. … It amazes me. They’re incredible. They bring so much. They bring this enormous commitment to go wherever I wanna go. … They do it in their own way. It’s given back to me other flavours of the work. … They’re not trying to get it, they’re taking it where it needs to go.” 

Crisp’s openness is to the audience too. In undoing dance, she also wants to undo performance. She seeks a connection with the audience by going beyond showing a piece. She reaches out to her audience. She says, “I call it withness. A lot of dancing is being on your own, in your own world, with your eyes shut in the studio, then there’s an audience and it’s a whole other thing. It needs a lot of practice to develop that. It took me a long time to learn how to be with an audience and not just present something for them or at them. … I really love being with the audience. … it’s kind of melting that distance between us.” 

I ask her how she connects with the audience. She says, “I just want them to be so involved that there’s nowhere else … I really want them to be completely gripped. Otherwise why do it? It’s gotta be better than television.”

I say that it can be hard to be gripped without narrative. In most TV being gripped is waiting to see what happens next. It’s manipulative. 

She says, “I think theatre is very manipulative. I’m completely manipulating the audience. Totally. But I hope you don’t feel manipulated. I hope you just get engaged. It’s because, it’s a lot of trickery, it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot generosity, it’s a lot of skill, it’s a lot of surprises to get an audience really involved.”

I say, “Generosity is not manipulation.”

She says, “It’s still manipulative, it’s still a job to get you engaged.” 

I say, “You’re still true to something.”

She says, “Yes, I’m true to my job of getting you engaged. I want them to get involved in every moment, so much that I’ll do anything to get you involved.”

I say, “If you really wanted that, you would do something commercial, why are you not doing something commercial?”

She says, “because I love dancing.”

I say, “See!”

She says, “I believe (dancing) it’s a way I can communicate. It’s the best way I can communicate.”

I say, “That’s not manipulative. You give something you love in the way you love. It’s you giving something.”

She laughs 

I continue, “You need to do something to engage the audience, but that’s not where the work comes from, it comes from you loving dance.”

She says, “You can be a great dancer and a terrible performer. I learned how to perform from Andrew Morrish. He’s a great performer and a great teacher of performing. It’s about the audience. It’s about your connection to the audience. That’s the most important thing for him. I’ve learned a lot from that. There are two responsibilities: one is to my dancing, my material, my satisfaction artistically, the other one is to the audience, and they are both equally important. If I haven’t got the audience I have nothing to offer. If I’m the only one knowing what I do, I have no communication. I still think it’s very manipulative.”

I say, “It’s the wrong term. Manipulative is cheap tricks.”

She says, “I do cheap tricks.”

I say, “I don’t believe you.” 

There is no artifice in Rosalind Crisp, no aloofness, no pretension. I do not believe that her work could be anything other than a heartfelt and honest attempt at challenging herself and the audience in the most radical way. It is a work of love.

Review Roots, National Dance Company Wales, Theatr Clwyd by Gareth Hall

I’ve never seen contemporary dance live onstage. I’ve seen glimpses of it on TV – just enough to be fascinated, baffled, then fascinated again. My relationship with classical music is much the same. A simple melody can weave its way through an orchestra with astounding grace – but when a composer tries to tell a story, to my ears, the music lacks the vocabulary to express it. The artistic intent fades in and out, like a conversation half overheard across a crowded room.

My first experience of live contemporary dance was full of grace, but also not without half-heard sentiments. The first of four short pieces was Nikita Gole’s Écrit – it was my favourite. The story (a passionate affair between artist Frida Kahlo and her partner Diego) seemed disjointed, but the dancing was bursting with energy and full of feeling. With Frida in spotlight and Diego in silhouette behind a curtain, there was a striking visual contrast onstage. Another striking contrast: Frida begins with flowing hands suggesting a young flower in bloom, then, as she sheds petals from a rose covered headband, suddenly I felt wrenched forward in time. This was brilliantly mirrored by Diego, who opens as a painter slashing and swiping on a canvas, then shrinks into a rocking chair as a man whose days have all been spent. The story lingered on from there – Diego taking on a strangely demonic presence that I couldn’t understand – but the vivid imagery and gorgeously evocative choreography held me from start to finish. I’d see more of this.

Ed Myhill’s Why Are People Clapping!? tapped into a more primal, almost tribal energy with his piece, which hit its peak with a mesmerising succession of solo dances. The momentum ebbed with the persistent intrusion of sports related choreography, which, for me, was an unwanted distraction.

Anthony Matsena’s Codi was the piece I was looking forward to the most – bringing contemporary dance down into the dark of the Welsh mines promised to be a thrilling clash of different worlds. I was mightily impressed with the innovative use of lighting, which made a bare stage seem full and ever changing. The choreography, however, did not feel hard or harsh enough to emulate the desperate, dangerous lives of those brave mining men.

Last on the bill was Fearghus Ó Concchúir’s Rygbí: Annwyl/Dear, which likewise advertised an appealing fusion (this time, dance and rugby), but seemed to flit and fly around its subject matter without ever really going for the gut. With so many complex orchestrated movements to draw inspiration from, it felt like a missed opportunity that the geometry of the game was only intermittently recognisable.

What impressed me in every piece was the enthusiasm and athleticism of a remarkably talented dancing ensemble – the choreography did not always connect with me, but the pure intent of every performer was a sight worth seeing. And yes…it makes me want to lean in and hear more of what they’re saying, too. Next time!     

Gareth Hall

Review Roots, National Dance Company Wales, Theatr Clwyd By Nina Edwards

Tour born of rhythm, attitude, en-pointe collaboration,

Community, shared unity, humanity, emancipation,

Passion for dance promenading relations’ rise and fall,

Sport inspiring art, inspiring sport, performed with balls,

Journeys of life, love, loss, grace and strength of spirit,

Why are people clapping? So we can all hear it!

All – together a common theme, a message for us all

Flowers bloom after rain declares Washington

Inspiring attitudes, lifted to rise after they fall 

As across the room Kahlo reflects over shadows on the wall

Fallen but not broken, through the darkness, Roots light still shines on

Sound-tracked by drum beat, crickets chip, traffic hum and tennis play, ‘Love – one!’

The strength of life, common ground, at its essence and as its inspiration

Born of the rhythm, full of hope, showcasing the feet of our nation. 

The Radical Freedom of Rosalind Crisp – Interviewed by Eva Marloes

Rosalind Crisp, a world-renown dancer and choreographer, is at Chapter Arts Centre preparing for her performance Unwrapping Danse. She is originally from Australia, where she is active in raising awareness on the environmental catastrophe of the deforestation of the bushes. She divides her time between Australia and Europe, especially France where she has been awarded the highest recognition in the country as Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres. She is generous with her time and allows us to have a long discussion on her approach to dance.   

Crisp’s approach to dance is a radical awareness of one’s body and one’s movement. It requires rigorous and lengthy training to undo what the body has learned over the years. All our bodies learn movement, which becomes habitual and unchallenged. Some of us find themselves stuck with bad posture, shallow breathing, or stiff muscles. It takes training to undo the bad habits. For dancers, it is the dance training that becomes habitual and impedes development artistically but also personally. A culture of dancing as perfecting a technique means the dancer will never be good enough. It is a culture of lack.

Crisp explains,

“the training in dance is part of the education paradigm we know in schools where you’re constantly trying to get better, not quite good enough, even when you get really good. … Classical ballet which is where I started is really embedded in that culture of lack, you’re always in a relationship of lack. You never actually get there. This has huge impact on the identity of the dancer. It’s very hard to find your way in dance because it’s uncomfortable and people who dance feel insecure because they’re not good enough. … I think it was partly to do with dealing with that, that turned me away from set movements.” 

Crisp focuses on paying close attention to what the body does without us being conscious of it. She is interested in the dancers’ attention to their own bodies and their decision-making in how they choose the next movement. She began with herself, observing and challenging her movements and how she chose movements. She says,

“I trained myself to pay attention. The training is in the attention to where things are emerging in the body, what’s already emerging, especially in the beginning of movement,” she moves her arm as she says so. She says, “I’m more and more interested in what produces a movement than the movement itself.”

I suggest that it’s a bit like meditation. It’s a ‘mindful movement.’

“Paying attention,” Crisp says, “It’s not natural movement. It’s two things: it’s a lot of rigorous work of what compositional choices are available, how fast that moves, how much tension or tone is in that, how much space, which body parts are involved and which aren’t.”

Crisp wanted to shake off the history of dance training, which establishes patterns of movements in the body of dancers. 

She says,

“They start to do this movement and you know where it’s gonna go. It’s gonna go to there because the body remembers, like I know how to pick up a sandwich and eat it. … There’s a lot of alertness to the decision-making that is historical or embedded and unquestioned. There’s a constant kind of negotiation. Sometimes that needs softness and support because it’s a very strong, you said that before, mind…?”

“Mindful,” I say, “like in meditation. When you meditate you observe the thoughts in your mind and become aware of them and their patterns.” She tells me,

“it’s about degrees of awakeness to the potential for any part of the body anytime to initiate [movement].”

Then she says something beautiful. She says,

“I think the body is an orchestra not an instrument. Every bit has the capacity to being engaged and they all need to be on standby all the time.” Making the body an orchestra requires paying attention. It’s not letting go, but rigorous observation and training.”

She says,

“It’s not natural movement. It’s two things: it’s a lot of rigorous work of what compositional choices are available, how fast that moves, how much tension or tone is in that, how much space, which body parts are involved and which aren’t.”

She tells me that she tries to put her choreographic mind in the background so that she can pay attention to what’s emerging in the body. She says,

“There’s a sort of decolonising the choreography’s dominance telling the dancer what to do, my choreography. I try to reverse it.”

I suggest that it is a form of authenticity, an awareness of conditioning and the search for something of value. She is not having it. It’s all trickery, she says, but to me her effort to become deeply aware of the body and learned movement resonates with existentialist philosophy and Crisp herself is strikingly authentic. However, I’m conscious that authenticity in performance is associated with the semi-therapeutic and spiritual dramaturgy of Grotowski in theatre and the Authentic Movement in dance. Crisp’s dancing does not aim to be therapeutic or spiritual; rather it is in some way heuristic.

It all began with dancing, just dancing without following set movements. She says,

“dancing, not trying to remember steps but dancing and it was out of years and years of dancing in the studio on my own that I started to be able to notice times when I was having so much fun and it felt like it was like opening a whole world and a new kind of thing.”

Crisp’s approach to dancing is genuinely open. It is radical freedom.

(First published on Groundwork Pro)

The Soul of Dance – Reflecting on Dance with NDCW – by Eva Marloes

Dance is personal. It is your muscles, your injuries, your sweat, your discipline, and your imagination. Professional dance is not just technique, physical ability, and rhythmic sense; it is the dancer’s personality, which is in their bodies and in their minds. What emerges from talking to dancers and choreographers is the personal work of dance. Dancers do not simply replicate established movements for the audience, they bring their individuality to a piece in how their body moves and how they give an interpretation of their role, sometimes that includes creating their own movements.  

Contemporary dance is often an exploration of movement and physicality that begins with an awareness of one’s body. Dancers learn about their body, how their body is in space, the different places where the body can be, the learned and habitual moves, and how to become aware of how they move. Dance is born of physical and mental awareness. It rests on deep knowledge of one’s body in space and in movement, and making decisions on how to move. 

I watch dancers and see how different they are. They have different builds, different ways of moving, but, above all, different personalities that become prominent when they dance. Aisha Naamani, one of the dancers of the National Dance Company Wales (NDCW), tells me, ‘Everybody has a different quality in movement because everybody has a different way of processing information.’ NDCW dancers do a lot of ‘rep work,’ work of different choreographers coming for a short time for a production. That means dancers need to take on different outfits rather than develop their own work. However, for Roots, each piece relied on improvisation and collaboration between choreographers and dancers.  

Naamani, referring to Ed Myhill’s piece Why Are People Clapping?, part of Roots, tells me,

‘We had to create our own movement, we have to do that as naturally and thoughtfully but also not attached to it, not tied down to what you want to do. … You have your individuality doing what your body would do, but then Ed would come and see it and rearrange the puzzle somewhere. But you always keep that essence of your own individuality because that’s where you create it from.’  

The interplay between the individual dancer and the group is evident in the piece itself. During the rehearsals, Myhill tells the dancers that it’s about 

‘Appreciating individuals and what they bring to the circle. The rhythm is set up by your colleagues, your friends. They are there to support you, use it as a drive to express yourself.’ 

As the dancers become familiar with one another and how others move, they are able to support one another. Fearghus Ó Conchúir, the Artistic Director of NDCW, realised that the coming together as a team and mutual support in rugby are familiar to dancers. In his piece Rygbi, the way in which dancers relate to one another is most evident in improvisation. He tells me,

‘You don’t need to offer support if it’s all decided already. You just need to be in your place. Active support comes from not knowing what is going to happen and being ready for whatever it is and we built that kind of improvisation into the work. We continue to work with improvisation to keep the work alive.’ 

Ó Conchúir explains that he has questions in mind and gives structure to the piece, but that

‘The dancers are the ones who inhabit it and take an idea, for me the reason to collaborate is because I’m not someone who decides what the work is in my head in advance and then want to see it just played out in front of me. … I want to be surprised by the process, otherwise it’s not enriching. I don’t learn anything. The reason to be engaged in this artistic practice is to keep learning things.’ 

Yet, this work of improvisation rests on dancers offering something that comes from their own self, their own body, something that at times can be very personal, and is not always accepted. Naamani tells me that that can be hard,

‘Because you can offer something to a choreographer, it’s almost as if you put your heart out to them and you’re being really vulnerable, but it’s not a personal thing, it’s what is necessary at that time. That’s a really hard thing. It’s long hours, it’s busy, constant re-evaluating what you’re doing, constant thoughts. You have to be very strong so you get very strong but you also, you have to be vulnerable at the same time, it’s a hard balance.’   

Ó Conchúir is well aware of the personal gift that dancers give to a choreographer. He says,

‘Sometimes you’ll say ‘ok, no’, sometimes when someone offers a thing, you’ll ‘oh no, thank you for offering that, that is a possibility, but that’s made it clear to me that we need to stay over here or sometimes you’re like ‘oh, you’re right, let’s go off on that route’. Even when you’re not, because you can’t necessarily follow everything that’s offered, then that helps clarify what you’re choosing to do. For me that collaboration with the dancers is essential and then hopefully that makes it a more interesting and engaging process for them, because they’re helping the creation and give it life. For me that’s the most important thing, that the dancers are engaged. In the moment of performance is them, they’re performing it with the audience. What I’m trying to do is to help prepare everyone for that encounter.’ 

Dance entails being vulnerable and giving themselves to others. Those others are your colleagues, the choreographer, and the audience. Talented dancers and those who gain notoriety might be led astray by their ego, but the soul of dance lies in humility and devotion. 

NDCWales latest production Roots is currently touring. Further information and tickets can be purchased here.

Review Écrit, NDCWales Roots Tour by a student of Coleg Cambria


In this review I will be reviewing Écrit  from the Roots dance show I went to go and see which was by National Dance Company Wales, it was performed at Theatre Clwyd.

There were four different dance pieces, some of them I preferred over others. The first dance piece was called Ecrit, I found this dance piece really interesting because when i was watching it I couldn’t fully understand the storyline to it and there were many different possibilities to the storyline as well which I really liked because it left a bit of mystery to the piece.

The dance piece was inspired by letters because the dance piece’s title means writing in French. I felt like in this
piece the man behind the sheet was painting his feelings about his love he couldn’t get too because you felt the connection throughout the piece between the two dancers even though they weren’t fully dancing together and you couldn’t really see one of them either. I found that the background music made the piece more emotional and touching to watch and if there wasn’t any music there I feel like it would of looked as good because there wouldn’t be anything there for the dancer to flow to and create the moves to either.

Another storyline I came up with while watching this piece was that the man behind the sheet was losing his mind and I thought this because of the way he was moving and dancing behind the sheet. As I have briefly mentioned before I mainly thought that both dancers where two lovers that couldn’t get to each other because of distance and
the only way they speak is through love letters which tie back
into the inspiration of the piece.

At some point in the performance I did find it a bit creepy especially when the dancer behind the sheet went bigger and smaller and started to control the female dancer in a way. Then once both dancers could be seen it was the most touching for me because the way they both were dancing together so effortlessly really brought the ending of the piece together and it felt the male dancer was caring for the female one. Also something I wasn’t expecting was the singing in the performance which was the singing in the performance which I wasn’t quite sure worked because I felt like the mystery of who these people are was taken away when we started singing in my opinion.

Review Roots, National Dance Company Wales, by a student of Coleg Cambria

The first piece Ecrit presented by National Dance Company Wales as part of the Roots tour was based on a Mexican relationship. What I took from this was that even though the man was the one who was restricted in prison it seemed to me as though he was getting his freedom through the woman that he loved and he was living his life through her.

The second piece was called Why Are People Clapping and the interpretation I got out of this was that there was always one person who was in control and whenever that person clapped the rest would follow and whenever someone almost didn’t listen then they would then become the one in control.  Overall I feel this was an OK performance and I feel that it could have been more clear as to what it was that was going on.

Codi was the name of the third piece and it was about the welsh miners. The interpretation I took from this was that it was about the struggles the miners would face. I also took the deep groans of the backing music as the horses pulling the carts of coal from deep within the mountains and I also thought it was about the explosion.

The last piece was called Rygbi and the interpretation I got from this was that it was about the love that the Welsh have for Rugby. Personally I liked how they used actual rugby movements and routines to show emotions.

Review Roots, National Dance Company Wales, Theatr Clwyd by Francesca John Fabiana Suarz.

 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Roots, presented at Theatre Clwyd, was an excellent dance performance. With four pieces: Ecrit, Why Are People Clapping?!, Codi, and Rygbi: Annwyl/Dear (in celebration of the Rugby World Cup in Japan). The production kept you on your feet, never once knowing what was to be expected. Even the opening of the show was well presented by choreographer Fearghus Ó Conchúir who gave off a wonderful vibe that made you squeal in excitement, waiting for the show to begin. Even in the breaks of the scenes, the audience were given time to chat with each other of what they think the show was about, what they liked and any other questions to put towards the cast, crew, and company.

Where there were 4 performances I will say the 1st: Ecrit, and the 3rd:Codi, were my favourite; the 1st act seemed to be based off Frieda and her lover Diego, with strong movements and flexible arm movements, the two dancers had put together such a good job that I would put that as number one. Everything about it, the chemistry between the actors, the music, the lighting, and especially their clever way of having one large sheet center left of the stage, and then there would be a light casting through and the esteem dancer: Moronfoluwa Odimaya, would dance behind and create this magnificent silhouette. What I loved the most about this piece was not that it was swift, intricate, and elegant, but how the dancers were so in sync and even when there was a sheet between them, it would look as if they were standing right next to each other.

Although Ecrit was my favourite, everyone gave it their all. However there were a few routines such as Codi, where the fog machine did give off an eerie looming effect on the stage and with the lights attached to the dancers; sometimes all you could see were the lights and not so much of the dance that I would rather be focusing on. Rygbi, was very well presented, it was wonderful to see a large group work so well in carrying out the performance, I felt at times it become a little repetitive, Where the other dances were shorter, they got their point across, and I feel that is mostly because given a certain amount time for presenting, you have all lots of ideas that you would want to put across which makes it even more interesting and making you wish you see more.

Overall, I have such high respect for this amazing company and its dancers. Being a student from Coleg Cambria, we create few devised pieces, either because we don’t have enough experience with dance in general, or that you have “writer’s block”, and watching this performance really gave a better approach as to high I can interpret some of the moves I had seen that evening into one of my own pieces.

What an inspiring, fun and lively night, I would recommend Roots 100%. I would love to give this production a 4 star rating, and would definitely bring my family and friends to watch this again and again.

Choreographers/Directors: Fearghus O Conchuir, Anothony Matsena, Ed Myhill, Nikita Goalia

Dancers: Ed Myhill, Nikita Goalia, Aisha Naamani, Moronfoluwa Odimaya, Elena Sgarbi, Tim Volleman, Marla King, and Ellie Marsh.

Review Roots, National Dance Company Wales, Theatr Clwyd by Katie Price

 out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

I recently had the privilege of going to see ‘Roots’ by National Dance Company Wales, at Theatr Clwyd.  This performance included four different dance pieces which consisted of ‘Ecrit’ ‘Why Are People Clapping ?’ ‘Codi’ and ‘Rugby: Annwyl/Dear’. These dances were performed by a small but strong ensemble cast that made the dances look really interesting. In between the dances, the audience got the opportunity to share their opinions/views on what they watched, which I think made the audience look deeper into the story behind each dance.

The first dance presented to the audience was
‘Ecrit’. This was a duet that was performed with one person behind a screen so
this created a shadow-like figure. This was visually interesting for the
audience and I made me think about the different things that it could
represent. This helped to show the status of the two characters at different
points in the dance. There were also sections in the dance that were performed
without music. This made me realise that dance is just as effective without
music as it is with music.

Another dance we saw was ‘Why Are People
Clapping ?’. This one stood out to me the most because I found it fascinating
how the dancers were creating the rhythm themselves and they all managed to
stay in time. Although the rhythm didn’t change, the speed of the dance did and
I found it clever how everything still managed to fit together perfectly.

The third dance ‘Codi’ had more of a
theatrical vibe to it. As the dance progressed, the acting element became very
clear. This made the audience connect with the characters emotions and got them
hooked on the journey that they go through.

The last dance piece that was performed was ‘Rugby: Annwyl/Dear’. This included very strong ensemble work. I loved how energetic this piece was and how well the sport of Rugby was shown through a form of dance eg. lifts, running around, supporting each other. Although the dance was performed really well, I think that at times some of the movement was repetitive which sometimes made the story hard to follow.

Overall, I enjoyed hearing people’s views on each dance as they were sometimes different to what I thought so it made me think about the dance from a different perspective. Also, in the dance ‘Ecrit’, there was a section in the dance where one of the dancers sang a few lines of a song. I think this worked effectively as it made the audience realise that dancers also have other talents and this could be incorporated into a dance to put a twist on it. Finally I enjoyed how the acting through the dance pieces was over exaggerated as this helped the audience to understand what was going on throughout the dances. I think the show could have been better if some of the dancers shared their own views on the dances as it would have been interesting to hear if any of the storylines of the dances changed throughout the rehearsal process.

In conclusion, I would rate this five stars as I think that the audience interaction was incredibly unique and each individual dance was performed with a lot of emotions and with strong movements. 

Review Roots, National Dance Company Wales, Theatr Clwyd by Chloe Kerr

 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

The performance Roots is made up of four
short dances (Rygbi, Ecrit, Why Are People Clapping?, Codi). All four of these
pieces are from Wales. I personally got different ideas about each of the
dances as they progressed. I found that I often changed my mind of what I
thought the pieces were about.

The first piece we watched was Ecrit. Throughout this dance my ideas developed. I got the impression that it represented some kind of forbidden relationship because of the battle between the man’s shadow and the girl on stage. However, I also got the impression that it represented communication between a soldier and his girlfriend/ wife. As the piece progressed I found myself leaning towards the latter option. I feel that it was beautifully executed and I think having the male as a shadow to show they weren’t together was really effective. I found it really interesting how everyone had different opinions on the piece when we talked after the piece, however I feel that they all seemed to relate to one another.

The next piece was Why Are People Clapping? This piece was my favourite! In this piece I found it really interesting how they incorporated so many different elements into it. They used many familiar things such as clapping, tennis and head shoulders, knees and toes. It was also weird because clapping can be used in polar opposite situations, it can be used as support or in anger as a sort of come on kind of thing, or in a patronising way. I loved how the claps really controlled the whole of the dance and also switched the mood of the piece. I really like how it started and ended with the tennis match, which led me to believe that all these different parts in the middle were what was going on in peoples head as they watched the tennis, although I may have misinterpreted this.

The third dance was Codi. Throughout this
dance I got the strong impression that it was based on miners. The use of
headlights (which were worn on their necks) really helped to portray this scene
for me. This piece was full of emotion and it was something that really
represented what miners would go through. I think it was executed amazingly and
I love the use of the sticks. Now whilst I did love the use of lights on their
necks I found that at some points it also held them back in a way because it
meant there were many movements we lost because it was too dark. Although I did
love this piece.

Lastly Rygbi, which is pretty much explained in the title of it is based on rugby. I thought this piece was beautifully choreographed, it was amazing to watch popular rugby moves slowed down and turned into a beautiful dance that represents teamwork and helping each other out when they’re down. It had a really soft look to it even though it was mimicking a really hard and rough sport which I thought was really effective. I loved how the dancers all seemed to rely on each other throughout the piece which really added to the togetherness and community feel of rugby. I also read up on it and found out that it was actually made with some input from rugby players and fans, which I think really adds to the authenticity of the piece. The only criticism I have for this piece is I think it went on slightly too long. This piece lasted around twenty five minutes, and I felt that some of the movement were repeated throughout which meant we lost the rawness of the piece. I personally feel that this piece would have been a lot more effective and made more of an impact if it was slightly shorter.

Overall I really enjoyed the show! I loved how it was laid out and how interactive it was. I loved the discussion in between each piece, I feel that this really brought the audience together and it was lovely to hear other people’s interpretations of each piece. Overall I would give the show four stars!

Choreographers – Nikita Goile, Ed Myhill, Anthony Matsena, Feargus O Conchuir

Dancers – Nikita Goile, Ed myhill, Aisha Naamani, Moronfoluwa Odimayo, Elena Sgarbi, Tim Volleman, Marla King, Ellie Marsh