On the 8th, 9th and 10th of December I was audience to three separate and individual performances by the second year dancers at Coventry University.
Although this assignment calls for a review of only one of these performances, I cannot limit it to just one! So here is an overall review of and reflection on all three performances!
CHAMELEON DANCE COLLECTIVE
The first performance, created in collaboration with Kirstie Richardson included a solo performance by Kirstie called 'At the age of 40' and was shown as a work in progress. It was fascinating to watch a professional artist performing and her solo was full of humour as well as, for me personally, some rather profound emotional moments. Her use of vocal was interesting and supported her movement. Kirstie represented the theme of marriage and role of a wife through her vocals; “I’m married”, “I shouldn’t be” and the use of props – in this case a large white piece of paper with the words “I want to be”. This piece of work was very interesting to watch and made a good introduction to the main show.
For the student performance, the audience was escorted around the building to different areas where the performance had already begun. These areas included stair cases and music rooms as well as class rooms and corridors. Although I have seen site-specific work before, it was very interesting in terms of the range of movement possible in all of these places that I walk past or through on a daily basis. The individual performances themselves, whether as a solo, duet, trio, or group, were based primarily on contact improvisation with some set material inter-woven. The lighting was used very effectively in these performances, casting shadows against the walls and one of my favourite moments in particular was the use of the piano to make sound as the performers climbed across and along it. The dancers slowly congregated in one specific area of the building. This was a fascinating idea, however, the number of people in the audience and the small space made it difficult to view the work.
SO WE DANCE
This student performance, created in collaboration with Rick Nodine, was performed in the main studio space and had a very different quality and energy to it in comparison to the Chameleon Dance Collective. The audience were led into the space to see the performers already running across the space as if in preparation. The opening sequence to this performance was captivating as the dancers ‘fell’ into the space, either individually or as part of a pair or group. This was very visually exciting to watch as the dancers moved into a series of high energy contact work, with lifts, jumps and rolls across the space. This section of the performance gave the illusion that it would be different every time it was performed which gave it a very special transient quality. The pace of the performance then slowed to allow for a series of duets, trios and groups using set movement material. I found the movement very intriguing to watch and at a slower pace was able to appreciate each movement. The remaining performers, when not directly involved in the movement material would observe and appear as an on stage audience, directing our attention towards the movement. The performance then developed once again into a very fast paced and highly physical routine using all dancers and covering the whole space. The movement contained the dynamic and forceful imagery of martial arts and was very powerful to observe in unison. This was the climax of the piece and concluded with a quiet solo as the rest of the company observed and the lighting slowly faded out.
EDEN DANCE COMPANY
This piece of work called ‘Inhabitation’ and created in collaboration with Alex Howard was yet again very different to either of the two previous works and yet also contained many fascinating ideas and images for the audience. The performance was already in progress when the audience was shown into the space. We were invited to walk around the room viewing the installation – this involved large plastic sheets on the floor, a pile of fur coats and a row of wellies along one side of the room. The piece incorporated the theme of exploring the environment around us. The performers therefore used both improvisation and set material to explore the space around them – climbing over and crawling under the plastic, wrapping themselves in the curtain surrounding the studio space and so on. Individually the dancers then collect and put on their own fur coat and wellies and form a group near the exit of the space as they wait for the audience to put on their coats. We were then led across the city as part of the performance along ‘streets both old and new’ until we reached Lady Herbert’s garden where the final sections of the performance take place. As the audience we were given a fascinating aerial view of the performance, standing on a bridge platform as the dancers moved beneath our feet. The dancers continued to explore this new environment in much the same way as they had in the studio space, using a combination of improvisation and set material. The piece culminates in a group section using contact, trust and balance exercises in the outside space. This was intriguing to watch as they moved in the environment around them with an honest and true sense of exploration and a sense of no boundaries.
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