Evangelia Kolyra Not Quite
SHADEseasons Silke Wiegand Erzulie, or where are my sweets?
James Cousins Taste Water Again
The presence of Matthew Bourne in the audience was no accident. He was there to check out the work of New Adventures dancer James Cousins, whose Taste Water Again was getting a well-deserved second showing in the Resolution! season. On this evidence, Bourne has a highly promising talent in his ranks.
Polished without being showbiz slick, primeval yet disciplined, Taste Water Again drew from a familiar well of lyrical contemporary choreography yet punched above its weight thanks to an imaginative edge that rippled pagan ritual and martial arts amid waves of sophisticated movement. The narrative thread, built around a lone female seeking some kind of salvation amid a disparate group, floated a touch out of reach but Cousins and his impeccable dancers built up such a tidal wave of fluid intensity, it scarcely mattered: these guys can dance. Blessed with a keen eye for the ebb and flow of music and movement, Cousins could make a major splash.
The two other works couldn't help but feel rather small beer by comparison. In her duet Not Quite, choreographer Evangelia Kolyra was intent on exploring the push and pull of human behaviour and the way that relationships can seem predestined to repeat a cycle over and over. Performers Hayley Durward and Hannah Pickett whipped up a tangible chemistry but their interplay was too introverted and kept us at arm's length: their physical game-playing was fascinating for them, but frustrating for outsiders.
There was a similar pattern at play in Silke Wiegand's enigmatically-titled Erzulie, or where are my sweets?, in which flickering light-bulbs and the crackle of static introduced a skittering group of spooky types, troubled by the ghosts and spirits of lost loved ones. There was the odd haunting moment but Wiegand's shallow box of tricks was mired with clichés, playing out like a humdrum episode of Derek Acorah's Most Haunted.
Keith Watson
Simplicity was an instant feature in this subtle female duet, choreographed by Evangelia Kolyra. Not quite explored the relationship between two people, centring on social interaction and games. The sense of relationship was strong, the minimal shifts in eye contact and head isolations becoming intense yet playful at times. The ever changing nature of their duet ranged between aggression and tenderness, playfulness and tension, exploring a variety of social situations experienced daily. Interjected briefly into the rhythmic contact and throw away movement, random facial expressions gave the dancers personality and added a hint of comedy.
SHADEseasons' Erzulie, or where are my sweets? presented an uncomfortable image. A cracking, reverberating accompaniment matched with flickering light bulbs, unsettled, creating a definite sense of uncertainty. The lighting state proved effective, obscuring the movement slightly as the flickers died away to darkness. Awkward, disjointed movement rippled through each dancer, taking over their bodies as if they were possessed. While the addition of a handheld camera was, to say the least, random, nevertheless as the images of the live movement were projected behind, it became weirdly effective and offered an interesting perspective. I found I began to focus on the projection instead of the actual action, which unfortunately became secondary.
A particular standout for the evening, James Cousins ‘first footing' piece Taste water again expanded through space, cleverly developing an original style. The dynamic quality of the piece was unparalleled, with the lithe limbs of the female soloist desperately searching into space only to be snatched back. The group folded into the floor, and each other, with ease, only to fight back up against the pulsing music. Every dancer was perfectly suited to the highly technical nature of the piece; each defiantly trying to express their desire through the obvious physical endurance test the work subjected them to.
Rhian Lewis