Dance: Connection is the answer

Nederlands Dans Theater & Complicité 
Figures in Extinction
direction & choreography Crystal Pite, Simon McBurney
dancers Alexander Andison, Demi Bawon, Anna Bekirova, Jon Bond, Conner Bormann, Viola Busi, Pamela Campos, Emmitt Cawley, Conner Chew, Scott Fowler, Surimu Fukushi, Barry Gans, Ricardo Hartley III, Nicole Ishimaru, Chuck Jones, Paloma Lassère, Casper Mott, Genevieve O'Keeffe, Omani Ormskirk, Kele Roberson, Gabriele Rolle, Rebecca Speroni, Yukino Takaura, Luca-Andrea Lino Tessarini, Theophilus Veselý, Nicole Ward, Sophie Whittome, Rui-Ting Yu, Zenon Zubyk
music Owen Belton • sound Benjamin Grant
lighting Tom Visser • sets Jay Gower Taylor, Michael Levine
Sadler's Wells, London • 5-8.Nov.25 ★★★★★

Nederlands Dans Theater and Complicité are two of the world's finest dance companies, led by top artists Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney. So it's hardly surprising that this three-part show (with two intervals) is both dazzlingly beautiful and often heart-stopping, drawing the audience in with visual, technical and artistic prowess to provide an experience that is both thought-provoking and deeply moving. From the detailed, precise choreography to an inventive mix of sound and light, everyone involved is at the very peak of their powers.

The trilogy opens with Figures in Extinction [1.0] the list, which I first saw as part of another NDT programme at Sadler's Wells in 2023. Here it's presented in a robust new context as it traces species and places that have been lost, including mammals, birds, flowers and glaciers. Alongside a mix of spoken words and musical underscore, each is depicted interpretively by the dancers in ways that send chills up the spine. Highlights include a herd of caribou, a breathing cheetah skeleton, a duet of macaws and a twitching frog. Through all of this there's a real sense that we are watching the earth disappear around us, and the earth is watching us.

Figures in Extinction [2.0] but then you come to the humans finds the entire cast on-stage in chairs, with tiny movements expressing isolation as they look into phone screens. Their reactions are hilarious, and also astutely pointed, as the voiceover speaks about how brains are constructed for various tasks, including the distinctly human ability to see perspectives beyond ourselves, giving us both distance and empathy. This plays out in expressive ways that urge us to see humanity in a new way. Visual trickery often feels like magic, especially as the dancers bring cameras onto the stage, projecting images onto the screen behind them. It's also deeply moving to think about humanity in connection with everything around us.

Finally, Extinction [3.0] requiem explores our relationship with those who have gone before us, intriguingly opening as each dancer notes where they were born, the culmination of ancestors scattered across the globe. A gigantic black cube descends onto the stage, revealing a hospital scene that plays out through this piece in a mix of gallows humour, family drama and profound grief. Even here, there's a blast of life in choreography that resolves into full-on Fosse-style jazz riffs as well as moments of racing and straining, understanding that death is something real for all of us. Witty, harrowing and tender, this is viscerally moving on surprising layers.

Throughout this show, light and shadow are skilfully deployed alongside striking projections, evolving through a series of spectacular transitions. But the demanding choreography makes the biggest impression, as dancers guide our eyes around the stage with both micro-movements and grandly sweeping physicality, often performing as if they are puppets controlled by an unseen hand. At every point in all three segments, there are pointed comments that combine physicality, religion and politics into a pure reflection of what it means to be human. It's the kind of show that changes the way we see the world and ourselves. As Pite says, "If separation is the question, then connection is surely the answer."

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Rahi Rezvani • 5.Nov.25

Critical Week: Ready to run

Awards season continues in full swing, with screenings every day of the week. Things will only escalate this month as voting deadlines begin to approach around the first of December. So I have a lot that I still need to see, especially since I also have to watch TV shows and podcasts for the Golden Globes. This week's big films included Glen Powell in Edgar Wright's entertainingly fast-paced remake of The Running Man, based on the Stephen King novel. There are big issues in here, but it never goes very deep. At least Colman Domingo is having a blast. And there was also the lavishly well-made post-war epic Nuremberg, starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek in a thought-provoking exploration of political morality. Leo Woodhall very nearly steals the show.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Belen • Train Dreams • Odyssey
Peter Hujar's Day • The Choral
The Marbles • Love + War
ALL REVIEWS >

One of the most delightful surprises was Song Sung Blue, an emotional rollercoaster of a true story starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as a Neil Diamond experience. Yes, lots of great music too. Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner also have fun in the existential romantic-triangle comedy Eternity, which finds serious emotions along the way. Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall are riveting in Peter Hujar's Day, a mundane/momentous conversation between two artists in 1970s New York. The artful French romance Eden & Charlie is simply gorgeous to look at, and carries a wistful kick. The documentary The Marbles is an entertaining, enlightening exploration of why museums have a duty to repatriate antiquities. And the interactive thriller The Run takes the audience on a wild ride, all while we choose where it goes next. I also attended a gala screening of the hilarious and sharply pointed short Burn Your Gays. And there was a live performance of the dazzling Figures in Extinction at Sadler's Wells.

Coming up for this next just-as-busy week, I'll be watching Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked: For Good, Alexander Skarsgard in Pillion, Kate Winslet's film Goodbye June, Tom Blyth in Bull Run, the animated adventure In Your Dreams, the action sequel Sisu: Road to Revenge, Hong Kong crime thriller Valley of the Shadow of Death, and the anti-romcom 300 Letters, plus a premiere screening of the first episode of Stranger Things season 5.

Critical Week: Hold on tight

Because awards season is fully underway now, there is a steady stream of screenings to help voters catch up with contenders. It's not always clear how these are selected, as some great movies are routinely ignored during these months, while others get massive campaigns. So it's always great when smaller films get a bit of a push - and I love discovering these gems. One of the best of the year is Joachim Trier's drama Sentimental Value, a stunner from Norway featuring another riveting performance from Renate Reinsve, plus Stellan Skarsgard in the role of his career as her filmmaker father. And from Argentina, Belén has real power in its true story about women fighting for rights in a male-dominated society. Actor-filmmaker Dolores Fonzi and Camila Plaate (in the title role) are terrific in this moving, important film.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Palestine 36
Stitch Head • Bugonia
Nouvelle Vague 
ALL REVIEWS >

More mainstream, the animated comedy Stitch Head is a wonderfully cartoonish spin on Frankenstein that's funny and engagingly sweet. The atmospheric horror Shelby Oaks is creepy and gleefully gruesome, but never scary. And the bonkers Aussie animated romp Lesbian Space Princess is smart, rude and delightfully ridiculous. I also saw a live performance of Akram Khan and Manal AlDowayan's Thikra: Night of Remembering at Sadler's Wells. And I spent a day on the set of MobLand, as it begins filming its second season, accompanied by cast members Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Joanna Froggatt, Anson Boon, Lara Pulver, Mandeep Dhillon and Teddie Allen.

Coming up this next week, I'll be watching Russell Crowe and Rami Malek in Nuremburg, Glen Powell in The Running Man, Jodie Foster in A Private Life, Miles Teller in Eternity, Andrea Riseborough in Dragonfly, the French romance Eden & Charlie, the British Museum doc The Marbles, a gala screening of the short Burn Your Gays, the interactive movie The Run and a live performance of Figures in Extinction.

Dance: A reminder from mother earth

Akram Khan Company
Thikra: Night of Remembering
director & choreographer Akram Khan
visual director, costumes, set Manal AlDowayan
dancers Pallavi Anand, Ching-Ying Chien, Kavya Ganesh, Nikita Goile, Samantha Hines, Jyotsna Jagannathan, Mythili Prakash, Azusa Seyama Proville, Divya Ravi, Elpida Skourou, Mei Fei Soo, Shreema Upadhyaya, Kimperly Yap, Hsin-Hsuan Yu
music & soundscape Aditya Prakash • sound Gareth Fry
lighting Zeynep Kepekli • dramaturgy Blue Pieta
Sadler's Wells, London • 29.Oct-1.Nov.25 ★★★★

A collaboration between choreographer Akram Khan and visual artist Manal AlDowayan, this one-hour dance performance is a journey into an elemental past that plays on rituals, history and mythology. Watching it is an unusual experience, as there's the sense of a strong narrative in the action on-stage, even if the meaning remains tantalisingly out of reach. But the expressive movement bursts with humanity as it explores spaces between the past and present.

With an all-female cast, it opens with a leader standing atop a rock encircled by acolytes, as a young woman in white appears. This is an ancestral spirit, who returns to her tribe for one night to help them reflect on their existence. The story plays out in swirling dance scenes in which four key characters interact in a variety of intense ways, controlling and being controlled, sleeping and waking, echoing each other and leading the larger group into wider actions. While the show emerges from the ancient Arabian city of AlUla, it reverberates with pre-history along the spice route through Europe, Africa and Asia.

Choreography is sweeping and expressive, often involving the performers' long straight hair. Much of this is individualistic, but there are ripples of synchronicity that sometimes blossom into precise full-group sequences. Floaty costumes and the extended locks add to the flowing effect, with the four central figures standing out in white, black, red and burnt orange. So watching this is mesmerising, with impressive work from the dancers as they go through some seriously demanding movements. It's restlessly eye-catching, and darkly moving.

Intriguingly, this piece was originally designed to be staged outdoors, and it certainly has a primordial sensibility to it, transporting the audience out into the wilderness and back to the dawn of time. The set, lighting and swirl of music and sound create a strongly evocative mother-earth vibe. So even if we're never quite sure who these characters are or what they're up to, their interaction is both visual and emotional. And it speaks to our primitive souls.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Camilla Greenwell • 28.Oct.25

Critical Week: On the road again

Hello from Rome! I'm here for a few days this week, my first-ever visit to the city, so I plan to do a lot of walking. I've also caught up with a London Film Fest movie here at the Rome Film Festival, namely Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner It Was Just an Accident, a riveting comical romp with dark undertones that surge to the surface in the haunting final act. Panahi was on hand to accept a special award before the screening last night, then today I attended a conversation with him about his extraordinary career. Before coming to Italy, I watched several films during London Film Fest's closing weekend, including Paolo Sorrentino's Venice festival opener La Grazia, another outrageously gorgeous odyssey starring Toni Servillo as a wry, reflective Italian president.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Bugonia • Hedda
Love+War
ALL REVIEWS >

Also at LFF: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere offers Jeremy Allen White another wonderfully textured role as the Boss, so the film is entertaining even if it never surprises us. Richard Linklater brought his second film this year, Nouvelle Vague, a French comedy-drama about the making of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, shot completely in period style. It looks amazing and is a lot of fun. There was also a lavish premiere for Annemarie Jacir's historical drama Palestine 36, beautifully dramatising a pivotal moment in time. The vast ensemble cast is excellent. From UAE, the psychological horror The Vile is a superbly unnerving thriller about a woman confronting her male-dominated culture. And the photography doc Love+War profiles top conflict photographer Lynsey Addario as she balances work with a lively family life.

My favourites from the London Film Festival:

1. 
   Is This Thing On? (Cooper, US)
2. Hamnet (Zhao, UK)
3. Rental Family (Hikari, Japan)
4. La Grazia (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy)
5. Wake Up Dead Man (Rian Johnson, UK)
6. Palestine 36 (Annemarie Jacir, Palestine)
7. Lurker (Alex Ross, US)
8. The History of Sound (Oliver Hermanus, UK)
9. Train Dreams (Clint Bentley, US)
10. Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos, US)

All festival film reviews are linked here: SHADOWS @ LFF >

Back in London this next week I'll see the horror thriller Shelby Oaks and the Argentine drama Belen, and I want to catch up on a couple of films that I missed because I was unable to attend screenings, including The Mastermind and Tron: Ares. I also have a live performances of Thikra: Night of Remembering.

Critical Week: Have a laugh

The 69th London Film Fest continues this week, which means I am watching rather a lot of big awards-season titles, often with the filmmakers and actors in attendance.  Sometimes this even includes a chance to chat with them at a reception, which is always nice. One of these was Bradley Cooper's new movie Is This Thing On?, a romantic comedy-drama starring Will Arnett (above) and Laura Dern, based on the life of British stand-up comedian John Bishop. It's a terrific story, and the film is strikingly well shot and acted, without a single false note, which is like a miracle in this genre.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Souleymane's Story
Roofman • Frankenstein
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking
ALL REVIEWS >

Elsewhere, Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons were on hand for the premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos' Bugonia, a surprisingly punchy black comedy. Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri came along for Luca Guadagnino's After the Hunt, an abrasive, challenging drama about morality. Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi and Mia Goth turned up for Guillermo del Toro's superbly epic new version of Frankenstein. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal were on-stage for Chloe Zhao's utterly gorgeous Hamnet, one of the most emotional resonant movies in recent memory. 

And there's more! Colin Farrell showed up for Edward Berger's colourful, involving Macau odyssey Ballad of a Small Player. Tessa Thompson, Imogen Poots and Nina Hoss were resplendent at the screening of Nia DaCosta's inventive, spiky new adaptation of Hedda. Brendan Fraser was on hand for Hikari's beautiful comedy-drama Rental Family, which skilfully explores modern-day isolation through a strongly engaging story set in Tokyo. Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones attended for Clint Bentley's sumptuous lifelong saga Train Dreams. And Kaouther Ben Hania's harrowing The Voice of Hind Rajab mixes documentary elements with emotive dramatics in a true story from the Israel-Palestine war. I also attended a live performance of Hofesh Schechter's mesmerising Theatre of Dreams at Sadler's Wells.

Coming this next week are a few more London Film Fest movies, including Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner It Was Just an Accident, Paolo Sorrentino's La Grazia, Annemarie Jacir's Palestine 36, Emirati horror thriller The Vile and the photography doc Love+War, plus the Navy Seal doc In Waves and War.

Dance: A dreamy odyssey

Hofesh Shechter Company
Theatre of Dreams
choreography and music Hofesh Shechter
dancers Tristan Carter, Robinson Cassarino, Frédéric Despierre, Rachel Fallon, Cristel de Frankrijker, Mickaël Frappat, Justine Gouache, Zakarius Harry, Alex Haskins, Keanah Faith Simin, Juliette Valerio, Chanel Vyent
musicians Yaron Engler, Sabio Janiak, James Keane
lighting Tom Visser • costumes Osnat Kelner
music Yaron Engler • sets Niall Black
Sadler's Wells, London • 15-18.Oct.25 ★★★★

Drawing on how dance explores feelings without offering answers, this surreal show unfolds as an almost cinematic odyssey, propelling the audience through a swirling display of vignettes that touch on how we see ourselves reflected in the world. Based in London since 2002, Israeli-born Hofesh Schechter inventively divides the stage using quick-moving curtains and shifting light, transporting us through a wide variety of scenes that are visually dazzling and intriguingly emotive. It often echoes a David Lynch movie: it's impossible to clearly understand, but we feel everything.

The scene is set as a performer in street clothes ducks through a gap in the curtain on-stage. Inside, visions emerge from all sides as more and more curtains slide apart, glimpsing people in poses or groups in wild abandon. Spotlights isolate performers, sometimes in a striking colour wash. Choreography is full-bodied and often looks like anarchic flailing, but this is all carefully staged, as ripples of patterns emerge in the movement, sometimes resolving into full-cast numbers performed in unison. Little dramatic moments are engulfed by crowds of revellers. Sometimes a larger tableaux depicts a specific event.

Music accompanying this ranges from extended sequences of pulsing rhythms to more melodic numbers. At one point a three-piece band dressed in red pops up on stage, then seems to miraculously teleport from place to place as they play instruments and provide vocals. This visual trickery echoes everywhere, as the dancers must race in the darkness to be in the correct place and position exactly when a curtain parts. So what we can't see feeds into the way we interpret what we observe. And at one point the performers encourage us to stand up and join them.

Dancers are constantly in motion, dressed to party but frequently switching things up, including costume changes on the move and a couple of naked moments. They run in place, gyrate on a dance floor and burst out in celebration. There are also yearning scenes in which they watch someone else perform before diving in themselves. Much of this plays out at high energy, with continual explosions of movement, sound and light. And there are also astonishing quiet moments. So the show feels fragmented but thoroughly involving, taking us on a trip into the corners of our imagination.

for details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Ulrich Geischë, Todd McDonald, Tom Visser • 15.Oct.25