And Again Bethan Peters
Beauty Unveiled Yuyu Rau
Back Simonetta Alessandri Company
Seven dancers propel themselves onstage with the determination of athletes in a race. Furrowed brows and bodies pumped with energy release in a demonstration of ambitious choreographic sequences. Much of this takes place on the floor, evolving from crawls and rolls and the surrender to gravity adds a satisfying weightiness in contrast to the frenetic verticality of And Again. Calmer moments follow and there is a little time to breathe and see the dancers as individuals rather than faceless clones. But they're off again, pushing themselves through the comfort zone. Less convincing this time round.
It's a very rare sight to see stage decor in Resolution; but this is what Yuyu Rau brings us in the form of three exquisite Chinese-patterned drapes, suspended from the ceiling. This visual environment sets the scene for the East meets West fusion of styles and celebration of Yin and Yang in Beauty Unveiled. A spotlight reveals one of the four performers unfurling her limbs from a contorted pose, a slight outcast from the other three who join her later. Sleek in their black and white silk costumes the man and two other women implement challenging steps with the fluidity and technical expertise of a professional company. It's a highly sophisticated operation from beginning to end and each performer's unique physicality imprints firmly on my mind.
No less impressive in terms of physicality is Simonetta Alessandri's Back. The five women here are riveting in their calm and competent execution of movement which emanates from the ribs. The upper torso frequently judders to initiate material which then spirals through the body, in a sort of re-birthing ritual, making everything lyrical and dynamic. A disciple of the Feldenkrais method, Alessandri's investigations into fragmentation and unity are perfectly illustrated by her dancers who overwhelm with their generosity. Philip Jeck's looped music which splutters and crackles is a perfect compliment to this powerful display.
Josephine Leask
Bethan Peters' choice to preface her show with T.S. Elliot's quote, "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" is ironic. Although, her concept and vision were admirably ambitious and clearly inspired, And Again... was incremental steps beyond what the dancers could comfortably perform. The clearly skilled performers could use more rehearsal, so our attention would fall on Peters' envisaged bodily precision and not so much on the protagonists' exertion and memory. Supported by the choice in music, the piece was urban, where the dancer's independence and dynamism were almost violent.
Beauty Unveiled presented four skilled and mature dancers. Yuyu Rau's vision felt strong but thematically tenuous. The set used traditional Chinese motif tree prints towering the height of the Robin Howard Dance Theatre and the costumes ranged from Grecian to Victorian, brought to life by contemporary dance. Apart from the clear individual beauty of each dancer, the title was disproportionately weighty and pretentious. Was the unveiling referring to the moment when WeiChun Luo tied up one of the three cloth prints? The audience is left puzzled.
Back was truly inspired. Simonetta Alessandri's passion for the spine remained a through line as the piece started with the vertebral articulations of five women, who stood choral like, bathed in warm sunlight-esque hues. Fresh summer days, depicted by the gentle pastels and warm saturated light mixed with a feeling of being underwater as the skillful spinal gesticulations and lifts seemed almost anti-gravitational. Scientific in the exploration of themes, the dancers orbited each other, with centrifugal force bringing them to collapse onto each other in the epicentre. Perhaps we were privy to a technical error, but the music arrived, jarring the atmosphere with seemingly no acknowledgement by the dancers.
Zoe Cobb
Bethan Peters 'And Again...'
Simonetta Alessandri Company 'Back'