Tempered Body Dance Company Amuse Bouche
Andrew Hardwidge To the United Readers & Lovers (dances with Anna)
HitchhikeDance Collective Amparo
Neither the intent, nor stimulus of Andrew Hardwidge's To the United Readers and Lovers (dances with Anna) was comprehensible. The vacant look in dancer Anna Richmond's eyes, coupled with oscillating emotive states as she jerked and contorted her limbs, suggested drugs or schizophrenia - but who knows? For the most part the piece looked improvised with changes in dynamic quality prompted by an equally erratic (if extensive) selection of music. One could be forgiven for mistaking the turbulent interchange between tracks as a technical glitch; much as one could rationalise the hesitant applause.
From musical overkill to musical shortfall, HitchhikeDance Collective's bold chequered floor set - interspersed with microphone stands and speaker - implied some musical cohesion, though delivered much the opposite. Performer Lola Maury breathed, growled and groaned into the mic, between short sections of tantalisingly seductive singing. What followed was, once again, perplexing. Outbursts of joyful, vigorous bopping, contrasted with incongruous, dramatic falls and shouts, devoid of any unifying strand.
During both pieces stifled yawns from neighbouring audience members hinted either at stealthy pre-theatre drinks or, more plausibly, a lapse in patience. Nevertheless, both performers delivered with commendable endurance and charming idiosyncrasy, considering the performance's considerable demands.
In direct choreographic contrast Maddy Wynne-Jones provided us with a poignant depiction of human relationships. Her five dancers were of a consistently high technical ability, whilst demonstrating a highly attuned sense of one another whilst dancing. Breaking off into a series of duets, the couples wrapped, entwined and embraced through a series of lifts, before fragmenting into solos, to swiftly move back into synchronicity. Clear narratives in the tender duets were reinforced by the evocative soundtrack, plunging the audience into romantic dreaminess. Particularly captivating was dancer Jose Campos, possessing a feminine grace and delicacy in his articulation: a truly delightful performer.
Fiona Campbell
What's in a title? In the case of the streams of verbal consciousness both Andrew Hardwidge and HitchhikeDance Collective attached to their Resolution contributions, the title was a clear clue that what arrived on stage was a collection of thoughts and ideas rather than the finished article. Both presented solos that tested the patience with their haphazard self-indulgence.
Louise Mochia is a striking performer with stage presence to spare. Dressed in designer black on a chess board floor that was home to a trio of microphones, the set-up for Gertrudis... (etc) looked intriguing, like a glossy magazine fashion shoot awaiting the arrival of the photographer. But Hitchhike Dance Collective duo Lola Maury and Albert Ruiz gave her little more to do than croon and growl into the mics (bursting randomly into Marilyn Monroe at one point) before erupting into comedy leg kicks. What a waste.
At least Andrew Hardwidge gave his muse, Anna Richmond, something to do. But whether the material on offer in To the United... (etc) was ready for public consumption was another matter. It was the dance equivalent of shuffling your iPod, the spangly-tighted Richmond lurching from Eels to Prince, sub-balletic poser to clubland raver in the blink of a beat. Fun for her no doubt, but the quirky novelty wore off inside two minutes and there were another eighteen to go.
By comparison Amuse Bouche, which opened the evening, was an object lesson in self-discipline. Choreographer Maddy Wynne-Jones didn't have anything startlingly original to offer on the intricacies of human relationships, but the five dancers of Tempered Body Dance Company made a lyrical fist of moves that ably demonstrated Wynne-Jones's range. She can do happy. She can do sad. And something somewhere in between. On a night of frustrating introspection, she at least reached out to the audience.
Keith Watson
Andrew Hardwidge, To the United Readers and Lovers (dances with Anna)
HitchhikeDance Collective
Tempered Body Dance Company, Amuse Bouche