Dance: Hope and pain

Ballet Black at 25
artistic director Cassa Pancho
performers Acaoã de Castro, Megan Chiu, Isabela Coracy, Taraja Hudson, Mikayla Isaacs, Love Kotiya, Bhungane Mehlomakulu, Helga Paris-Morales, Elijah Peterkin, Ebony Thomas
music Bill Laurance, Peter Johnson, Mthuthuzeli November
costumes Jessica Cabassa, Yann Seabra
lighting David Plater
Sadler's Wells, London • 14-17.Oct.26 ★★★★

Marking its 25th anniversary, Ballet Black brings a thrilling double bill to Sadler's Wells, featuring a new commission and an award-winning ballet that was commissioned 2019. These are distinctive pieces, performed by an ensemble of 10 skilled dancers to evoke strong emotions. Because the first piece is so celebratory, it might have been a better note to end on. But it's impossible to deny the power of the night's final scenes.

Choreographer Hope Boykin opens the show with ...All Towards Hope and a flood of spoken words, written and voiced by Boykin herself, that sounds like a motivational speech. Basically, it's a challenge to stand together against whatever is causing pain so that we can move closer to hope. The movement is expansive and engaging, a modern spin on classical ballet with dancers clad in loose, draping costumes in red, orange and brown. Finally, the words stop and music begins, allowing us to more properly lock into the emotional resonance of the piece as the musical style and lighting change in a variety of scenes separated by black-outs.

All of this is visually mesmerising, with eye-catching shapes and a mix of solos, duets and group elements that play on the performers' personal charisma, allowing them to interact with the audience in moments that are either soulful or light-hearted. The piece is strongest when the movement flows and shifts to a variety of musical cues, creating a weightless feeling as the dancers run, stretch and spin, echoing each other with jubilance. It's a terrific display of how individual talent and personality emerge from a larger group dynamic. And it's utterly joyful, even in its quieter or more rhythmic sections.

The second half is Mthuthuzeli November's Ingoma, which was inspired by Gerard Sekoto's 1947 painting Song of the Pick, depicting South African mine workers. It has a darker, more narrative structure as the dancers are playing miners and their wives, reflecting hard work, family life and faith, as well as oppression and violence. The choreography is earthy and beautifully grounded, with a tactile precision as the dancers convey deep emotions through their astonishing physicality.

It's a strikingly involving piece, dazzling to the eyes even as it touches on some very dark feelings. The choreography involves considerable strength and control. Men dance with intense energy that features muscly gestures, big lifts and a tight sense of camaraderie. And the women also have a vivid bond, displaying both a sense of yearning and driving intentionality. The men and women mix in fascinating ways, sometimes in a call and response. So scenes involving protests are sparky, while the solos are astonishingly expressive from lead couple Ebony Thomas and Isabela Coracy, as well as soloists Megan Chiu and Mikayla Isaacs. The humane ending leaves us moved and thoughtful.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by ASH • 14.Oct.26

Dance: Deep under the skin

Ballet Black
Shadows
artistic director Cassa Pancho
with Isabela Coracy, Megan Chiu, Acaoã de Castro, Taraja Hudson, Mikayla Isaacs, Love Kotiya, Bhungane Mehlomakulu, Helga Paris-Morales, Elijah Peterkin, Ebony Thomas, Ruby Runham
lighting David Plater • set Richard Bolton
Sadler's Wells, London • 26-29.Nov.25 ★★★★

With their strikingly visual style, Ballet Black debut a fascinating double bill that churns with psychological intrigue. These are two very different pieces, but they share an introspective approach that continually catches us off guard, challenging ideas about motivations and inexplicable yearnings. The gifted dancers perform them with full-bodied precision, gorgeously soaring physically while digging into the, yes, shadowy internalised elements. So the performances become thoughtfully provocative.

A Shadow Work is directed and choreographed by Chanel DaSilva, springing out of the therapeutic practice of exploring and healing repressed parts of ourselves. It centres around a woman in white (Taraja Hudson) who is encircled, lifted and swirled by the rest of the company, dressed in black mesh costumes (by Natalie Pryce). The dancers around her begin displaying their own features, sometimes in their own spotlights, mirroring and echoing movements, both working together and challenging each other. 

The movement is lyrical and elegant, mixing classical ballet with modern dance to the rhythmic pulse of Cristina Spine's electronic score while dramatic lighting shines from the back or sides. There are several achingly cool moments, including the company quietly swaying like reeds on an ocean floor and clever movement that creates floating and falling effects. It's hugely expressive, reflecting strength and vulnerability, and it gets increasingly insistent as it moves into a powerful climax.

My Sister, The Serial Killer is choreographed, directed and adapted from Oyinkan Braithwaite's novel by Ballet Black founder Cassa Pancho. There's a clear plotline here, and it's expanded by several wonderfully eye-catching flourishes that explore darker underlying ideas. The story centres on the nurse Korede (Isabela Coracy), who finds herself repeatedly cleaning up after her flirtatious sister Ayoola (Helga Paris-Morales) murders her boyfriends in "self-defence". This begins to weigh on Korede, and the situation becomes even more desperate when Ayoola locks eyes on Dr Tade (Ebony Thomas), Korede's colleague and secret crush.

Along with a fabulously colourful pool party, there are scenes involving scary groups of circling ghosts. And a river comes eerily to life as one victim's body is disposed into the water. The characters are beautifully rendered by the dancers, who reveal personalities through inventive details. And Tom Harrold's score (with additional music by Toots & The Maytals and Fela Kúti) adds waves of emotion as Korede grapples with her loyalties. So if the storytelling feels a bit heightened and soapy, and the props are perhaps overthought, this is a darkly involving piece that leaves us thinking.

For details, BALLET BLACK >

photos by Ash • 26.Nov.25