July 2016
Hofesh Shechter - Babarians - Sadler's Wells
On-off searchlights, deafening electronica intercut with snatches of 18th-century baroque music, and chopped-up sections of folksy choreography executed by six dancers.
Akram Khan's Big Dance 2016 - Trafalgar Square
Akram Khan’s Big Dance Opener was a celebration of ‘bringing people together’ and at a time when the UK is divided and in political chaos, when uncertainty and anxiety reigns, there was somethin… Continue Reading
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Russell Maliphant/Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
She’s exploring similar territory to another ballerina, Sylvie Guillem, not least in Russell Maliphant’s Silent Echo, spinning through the shadows while Polunin shows off his ballet leaps.
Antony Hamilton and Alisdair Macindoe - Meeting - Battersea Arts Centre
The performers count out pencil beats in increasingly, impossibly quick succession until the rapid string of numbers sounds like lines of computer code or the digits of pi. It’s mesmerising.
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Russell Maliphant/Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
Extraordinary backbreaking lifts – one man supporting the two others – and Osipova curling herself backwards into an almost perfect c-shape are just two of the highlights. The rising wail of Sufi singers adds to the heady, perfumed physicality.
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Russell Maliphant/Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
Consummate storytellers, Cherkaoui and Osipova are well suited; his theatrical style gives her plenty of material to work with and her flawless control gives his movements a heightened feel.
Candoco's Joel Brown, Laura Patay & Stine Nilsen Q&A
Alice Westoby spoke to performers Joel & Laura and Artistic Co-Director Stine, at the performance of their duet 'You and I Know', as part of Dancing City, Canary Wharf... Continue Reading
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Russell Maliphant/Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
It has its moments; there’s a great scene where she’s standing, lost and distraught, at the side of the highway, illuminated by passing headlights. And there’s a sweetly tender sequence on a swing.
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Russell Maliphant/Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
There are outstanding moments – lifts in which her exceptional suppleness and strength create the illusion that she’s walking, flying or hovering over her partners’ bodies – but they leave us hungry to see more of what Osipova, and Polunin, might achieve.
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Russell Maliphant/Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
Osipova becomes a kind of mesmeric predator, stalking the stage, her arms rippling, crouching and leaping, her loose hair and limbs whipping and scoring space.
Natalia Osipova - Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Russell Maliphant / Arthur Pita - Sadler's Wells
Osipova delivers many layers of performance excellence to three very different vehicles.... Some of the movement may feel familiar but the delivery is certainly unique. Continue Reading