Dance: All the drama

Germán Cornejo’s
Tango After Dark
director-choreographer Germán Cornejo
dancers Germán Cornejo & Noelia Pizzo; Nicolás Schell & Nair Schinca; Esteban Simon & Marilu Leopardi; Guido Palacios & Florencia Zarate; Juan Cupini & Erica Rossi
singers Vanina Tagini, Jesus Hidalgo
musicians Diego Ramos, Matias Rubino, Gemma Scalia, Tomas Falasca, Jeronimo Izarrualde
music Astor Piazzolla
lighting Charlie Morgan Jones • sound Gaston Briski
costumes Germán Cornejo, Alberto Mauri, Mimi Pinzon
Sadler's Wells, London • 5-9.Nov.26 ★★★

Back in London after a sold-out run in 2018, Germán Cornejo's dance company takes the audience on an immersive journey into Argentina's tango subculture, rippling with kicks, flicks, hooks and outrageous lifts. This is a slick, expertly performed show that demonstrates a wide range of tango styles, accompanied by gifted on-stage musicians. As enjoyable as it is, there's a nagging sense that it could be even more adventurous, especially in the choreography and costumes, both of which feel a bit repetitive. That said, the explosive emotionality is riveting.

The dancers appear as five couples, sometimes swapping partners or performing as trios or quartets. Although despite tango's well-known history, there are no male-only pairings. But this is an astonishingly exacting display of skill from first-rate performers who time every move to perfection. Boleos and ganchos continually punch the musical beats, as feet whip around each other in ways that feel wonderfully dangerous. The enganches are even more impressive, as women wrap their legs around their partner's bodies with thrilling precision.

While there isn't an overriding narrative to the show, several dance pieces contain emotive mini-storylines. And everything is punched with high drama, from the whizzy choreography to the riveting presence of evocative singers Vanina Tagini and Jesus Hidalgo. Even when the dancers are floating smoothly across the stage, there is propulsive energy in their attitude. And the four-piece band traces the mood with music that ranges from staccato attack to soulful jazz to rhythmic bounce. Along with a couple of musical interludes, each of them also gets to play a show-stopping solo.

Dancers also get their moments in the spotlight, with twirls and poses that continually catch the eye, led by Cornejo himself, plus the notably expressive Nair Schinca. The complex lifts are often heart-stopping, augmenting the flashy footwork as stiletto heels seem to whisk perilously close to the other dancers, creating dazzling optical illusions. So it doesn't really matter that the striking costumes are mainly one-note: shimmery dresses for women, black and/or white suits for men. These are perfect for the larger ballroom sequences, which surge with intentionality, leading to a triumphant encore that sends us off with a snap in our step.

For info, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Danny Kaan • 8.Nov.26

Dance: A message from Mother Earth

Dickson Mbi Company
Tellus
by Dickson Mbi & Nick Drake
composer-choreographer Dickson Mbi
performers Hannah Joseph, Harvey Burke-Hamilton, Kenny Wing Tao Ho, Rose Sall Sao, Monique Jonas, Jonadette Carpio, Nathan Goodman, Siyu Lu, Moses Ward, Fukiko Takase, Robert Dunkley-Gyimah
musicians Lara Aisha Ali, Meera Priyanka Raja, Toril Azzalini-Machecler
costumes Debbie Duru • set Ruby Law
lighting Lee Curran • sound Tony Gayle
video art Yeast Culture
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 21-24.Oct.26 ★★★★

With his distinctive visceral choreography and music, Dickson Mbi continues to explore his Cameroonian heritage with this strikingly epic folk tale drawn from the myth of Mami Wata, the source of life and love, and also destruction. Its lavish visuals and thumping rhythms speak directly to our bodies, pulling us into the emotions of the piece. And cleverly integrated video projection gives the show a powerfully effective kick.

The narrative follows a young man (Harvey Burke-Hamilton) through an odyssey into the predicament of his parched village, which is dying off due to drought. He is taken through the veil between the living and the dead by Mother Earth (Hannah Joseph), who guides him on a journey to heal the land. The energy grows beautifully over the course of the show, as three on-stage musicians appear in the background playing flute, cello and percussion in an increasingly insistent style that matches the dancers' impressive physicality.

Full-bodied movement intensifies from the austere opening section through a series of transitions that are marked by shifts in lighting and the skilful use of a string curtain at the back of the stage. This creates several breathtaking moments, combining with the expressive mix of modern and classical dance, eclectic-earthy music and a soundscape that features whispering and breathing. And when performers begin to interact with images projected onto both the curtain and a scrim, the effect becomes dazzling.

Through all of this, Mbi's inventive choreography challenges the dancers to use physical strength and endurance, evoking a wide range of emotions. There's a particularly lovely section in which four pairs move around the stage with the women leading and lifting the men. Other moments feature crawling, swaying and energetic bouncing, with arms and hands extended into the air. It's a punchy piece that culminates in a vivid catharsis, celebrating the fact that the earth will heal itself whether or not we do our part.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by RULA • 21.Oct.26

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: Demanding and dazzling

Acosta Danza
Cuban Baroque
artistic director Carlos Acosta
performers Frank Isaac, Paul Brando, Thalía Cardín, Melisa Moreda, Alexander Arias, Daniella Urgelles, Aniel Pazos, Cynthia Laffertte, Ernesto Muñoz, Ofelia Rodríguez, Rolando Dieguez, Wendy Elizabeth, Miguel Gomez, Carolina Monteagudo, Amado Mancebo, María Del Carmen Pantoja
musicians Pepe Gavilondo, Ezo Sarici, Adrian Aguiar
costumes Anastasios Sofroniou, Verena Hemmerlein, Goyo Montero
lighting Nicolas Fischtel, Goyo Montero
Sadler's Wells, London • 7-10.Oct.26 ★★★★★

Carlos Acosta's dance company goes from strength to strength, producing thrilling shows that leave the audience as out of breath as the performers themselves. This double bill is seriously demanding of the dancers, and it keeps the viewer in a state of wonder. Even without a narrative structure, the show carries us along on waves of emotion that surge across the stage. It's purely and simply jaw-dropping.

First up is Pearls, a new work choreographed by Andonis Foniadakis to a musical score by Julien Tarride that creates a sense of baroque elegance (using the 18th century chaconne Salve Regina by Esteban Sallas) as the dancers perform sweeping choreography that locks into the quick rhythms. Movement is both strong and loose, performed as solos, duets and in a large group with a strong sense of abandon. Flourishes are simply stunning, fluid and connected, spinning and swirling across a stage that is marked by projected lines that move to create new spaces. 

The costumes feel both futuristic and in a period style, aubergine bodysuits accompanied by chaps, skirts or trousers, and the men lose their shirts along the way, all of which augments the physicality in rippling waves of motion. There's a push and pull as couples form and swap, then the lighting shifts and the music swells into a pounding Cuban beat that sparks a full-on rave, revealing sharper moves that include jumping and bouncing in insistent unison. In the end, the dancers collapse onto the stage, then impressively rebound into a soulful, beautiful finale.

After the interval, the performers are somehow immediately back on top form as they tackle Goyo Montero's Chacona, accompanied by Bach's Partita No 2 in D Minor, gorgeously played live on the stage on piano, violin and guitar. Created in 2011, this piece is equally demanding, and it requires even more unity for a larger group of 16 dancers as they all remain on-stage throughout, navigating spotlit areas to perform a mix of classical and modern choreography.

Some segments involve them standing along the edges while solos and duets fill the illuminated spaces, so there are echoes of dance studio settings and fashion catwalks as dancers break out to perform. Echoing movement continually catches the eye, as we begin to sense a yearning sense of purpose, the need to move. This is utterly mesmerising, hugely expressive as performers play with light and shapes as they spin, lift, slide and float with startling precision. These dancers are astonishingly fit and absurdly talented, maintaining elegance and artistry during what is clearly a strenuous physical workout. It's emotive, intricate and utterly magical.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Charlie Kirkpatrick & Johan Persson • 7.Oct.26

Dance: Recollections may vary

Jess & Morgs
Deepfake
director-choreographers Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple
performers Kennedy Muntanga, Rebecca Bassett-Graham, Cathy Grealish, Dylan Springer, Tommi Sutton, Marshall Stay, Grace Broodie, Freya Burdon-Watson, Eva Rose Fellows, Evelien Van Den Hondel, Claire Goose, Habib Nasib Nader
writer Jeff James • video design Dan Light
set/costumes Milla Clarke • lighting Simon Bennison
Sadler’s Wells East, Stratford • 1-3.Oct.26 ★★★★

Dazzling on multiple fronts, this fast-paced hour-long show unfolds its politically charged narrative using a mesmerising combination of dance, sound and technology. As the title suggests, the story involves manipulated video, and it plays out with strikingly visual trickery that includes green screens, camerawork, projections and inventive lighting. Meanwhile, the show makes important points relating to political subterfuge, asking salient questions about why the media feels increasingly untrustworthy.

Creators Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple, aka Jess & Morgs, keep the tension high from the start, as we watch the Prime Minister (Kennedy Muntanga) preparing to be interviewed by TV journalist Katie (Rebecca Bassett-Graham) about a disastrous series of events the night before. Not only is there a videotape showing him in a state of undress, but he arrived suspiciously late to a state dinner, where he was disheveled and erratic. "Witnesses say you were drunk," Katie says. "No, the video is a fake," he replies.

Dialog (voiced by Habib Nasib Nader and Claire Goose) is mixed into the textured audio track, while the performers lipsync it with broad physical movements that often break out into full-on dance pieces. These include solos and duets, plus a range of elaborate group numbers accompanied by eight performers wearing green-screen bodysuits. One of these carries a handheld camera to capture striking angles on the action, often following performers backstage.

We watch all of this on a splintering array of screens. There's the live action on-stage, surrounded by bright green. And on a giant screen above, we can see the combined images, with backgrounds and even second or third versions of the PM as he puts another spin on his account ("I can't be in two places at once!"). The way these interact is mind-bogglingly complicated. And there are also jaw-dropping sections in which the performers interact with projections of themselves that are being shot live from other angles.

Intriguingly, the choreography is pointed and rather academic, never emotionally engaging. Instead, it reflects the push and pull between a politician and a journalist who have grown accustomed to doing this dance. The mix of modern choreo with ballet is playful, as one of the PM's excuses involves attending his daughter's dance recital. Re-enactments of various situations are riotously amusing, leading to a huge disco break in the final act. And through all of this, there's a driving search for the truth beneath the sound bites. 

For details, JESS & MORGS >

photos by Foteini Christofilopoulou • 1.Oct.26

Dance: A loose-limbed connection

National Dance Company Wales
Blue | Glas
choreographers Theo Clinkard, Alesandra Seutin
dancers Alys Davies, Andrew Lennox Scott, Ed Myhill, Jill Goh, Isabel Farrelly, Niamh Keeling, Riz Golden, Sonny Connor-Bell
music Alan Stones, Randolph Matthews
lighting Zerlina Hughes, Elanor Higgins
Sadler's Wells East, Stratford • 24-26.Sep.26 ★★★

Using the colour blue as an expression of "sky, water, freedom and depths", NDC Wales brings two pieces to Sadler's Wells East. The first is a revival from 2012 and the second is all-new. Both have an open-handed emotionality, with loose choreography that seems somewhat undisciplined but still highlights the serious physical skills of the dancers. So while they are demanding to perform, with several impressive sections, they are also far too free-flowing to have a proper impact.

Using the colour blue as an expression of "sky, water, freedom and depths", NDC Wales brings two pieces to Sadler's Wells East: the first is a revival from 2012 and the second is all-new. Both have an open-handed emotionality, with relaxed choreography that may appear somewhat undisciplined but still highlights the serious physical skills of the dancers. So while they are demanding to perform, with several impressive sections, they are also far too free-flowing to have a proper impact.

Theo Clinkard's Ordinary Courage opens with six dancers, barefoot in multicoloured streetwear, engaging in group choreo on a white stage in complete silence. Eye-catching and intriguing, there's a loose-limbed ease to their movement, and a nice sense of connection between them. Then as a piano score comes in, they remove their jackets and stare at the audience before shifting into manoeuvres that echo shifting ground or blasting wind.

All of this is expressive and very acrobatic, with powerful leaps and lifts (especially in duets with two men) but no real sense of focus. The interaction suggests a dramatic story that remains just out of reach, depicting flailing loneliness, grief, support and affection. It's complex and intricate, and performed expertly by these likeable dancers, but everything seems a bit random, punctuated by frequent blackouts. And the appearance of a large bear is both visually stunning and rather perplexing.

The second piece, Untamed by Alesandra Seutin, is shorter and rather more offbeat. The stage is black now, and the dancers are wearing off-white athletic outfits, sometimes accessorised with stringy lifevest-style tops. The dancers jump and run, often in achingly slow motion that looks rather awkwardly sinister. The lighting is deeper and darker now, as the performers writhe and crouch, then burst into action. This kind of choreography requires a lot of strength and balance, and the dancers are well up to the challenge. But the overall effect is oddly harsh and elusive.

With their notable physical control and fearless approach, these gifted dancers dive fully into both of these pieces, bringing out ideas and emotions. So there are dazzling moments along the way, combining masterful dance moves with a full commitment to the work. But the oddly unstructured choreography leaves the bigger picture blurred in the background, never quite arriving at a meaningful point. So in the end we feel like we've only seen the potential, rather than a fully formed show.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Jorge Lizalde, Mark Douet  • 24.Sep.26

Dance: Move, members, move

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Legacy
choreography Alvin Ailey, Ronald K Brown
dancers Leonardo Brito, Michael Cherry, Patrick Coker, Shawn Cusseaux, Sarah Daley-Perdomo, Caroline T Dartey, Isaiah Day, Solomon Dumas, Mason Evans, Samantha Figgins, Sebastian Garcia, James Gilmer, Ashley Kaylynn Green, Jacquelin Harris, Xavier Mack, Renaldo Maurice, Corrin Rachelle Mitchell, Jesse Obremski, Kali Marie Oliver, Tyrone Reese, Deidre Rogan, Hannah Alissa Richardson, Mahalaya Tintiangco-Cubales, Isabel Wallace-Green, Christopher R Wilson, Dandara Veiga
music Duke Ellington, Chuck Griffin, Leon Russell
costumes A Christina Giannini, Jane Greenwood, Ves Harper, Omotayo Wunmi Olaiya, Ursula Reed
Sadler's Wells, London • 15-19.Sep.26 ★★★★★

Nearly 70 years after its formation in 1958 New York, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brings a programme of vintage pieces to Sadler's Wells (plus new works on other nights). These classics feature Ailey's distinctive mix of jazz, blues and gospel vibes, drawing on his Southern heritage with echoes of West African culture. This is gloriously expressive choreography, a soaring blend of ballet and modern movement that elevates the audience.

The Legacy programme opens with excerpts from Night Creature (1974), moving to the groovy bounce of Duke Ellington's big band score. Dressed in sparkling dresses and skin-tight body suits, the dancers evoke a buoyant night out, prowling and shimmering. Two witty and sexy movements feature expansive arms, swaying hips, weightless footwork and slyly flirtatious eye contact, ending on a high-energy note that evokes New York's ballroom scene. 

This is followed by two solos: first, Yannick Lebrun performs to Donny Hathaway's rendition of A Song For You (1972), mixing physical strength with achingly deep emotion. Then on a red-hued stage, a sparky Constance Stamatiou dances an excerpt from Cry (1971), a colourfully funky piece that ripples with tough-minded determination and a celebratory spirit.

Grace (1999) is the one piece here choreographed by Ronald K Brown, and it pulses with party-like R&B rhythms as colours of both the stage and costumes shift around the company. It opens in an earthy mood with tribal and gospel flourishes, as the performers playfully interact to create a growing sense of exuberance with kicks and leaps. It's a glorious expression of inner spirit featuring solos, duets and full group moments that are packed with clever touches. And it reaches a series of triumphant highs.

The final section is Ailey's signature piece Revelations (1960) which uses traditional spirituals to explore deep emotional connections. Watching this is like being taken to church, with insistent beats that burrow into our souls as the dancers perform expressive, evocative choreography to both plaintive prayer-like songs and more pulsing numbers like Fix Me, Jesus and Wade in the Water. It's packed with breathtaking movement and balance, running, spinning and lifting, both in full-company formations and individual breakouts like Xavier Mack's dazzling I Wanna Be Ready solo.

It closes with the triumphant, sun-washed staging of Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham that gets us bouncing in our seats as if we're sitting along the edge of the church hall, waiting for our turn to get up and strut our stuff. No matter how many times we see Revelations, it always feels fresh and alive, encouraging us to express our feelings with full-bodied joy. It's a visually spectacular show, and it radiates love throughout the room.

For information: SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Christopher Duggan, Paul Kolnik, Danica Paulos,
Glyn Stanley, Tyler Whitman • 16.Sep.26

Dance: Feel the heat

New Adventures
The Car Man
director-choreographer Matthew Bourne
with Will Bozier, Ashley Shaw, Harry Ondrak-Wright, Anna-Maria De Freitas, Danny Reubens, Eleanor McGrath, Harrison Dowzell, Karishma Young, Jarrod McWilliams, Tanisha Addicott, Cameron Flynn, Rae Miller, Xavier Andriambolanoro-Sotiya, Serena McCall, Nicholas Shikkis, Jamie Duncan-Campbell, Tim Hodges
music Terry Davies featuring Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Georges Bizet’s Carmen)
conductor Benjamin Pope • sets/costumes Lez Brotherston
lighting Chris Davey • sound Paul Groothuis
Sadler's Wells, London • 28.Jul-29.Aug.26 ★★★★★

This show premiered in 2000 and has been revived several times since, but this is the first time I've seen Matthew Bourne's notoriously sexy spin on Bizet's Carmen. Intriguingly, he largely only adapts the opera's tone, and the intensity of its plot, while spinning a new story that has its roots in American noir cinema. It also, of course, has the intriguing whiff of a queer twist in the tale. The result is thrilling theatre, a dazzling dance that needs no dialog or subtitles to keep us gripped to the feverish story.

It's set in the 1960s in a small Midwestern town called Harmony, as the hunky drifter Luca (Will Bozier) catches everyone's attention on arrival. He takes a job in a mechanic shop owned by Dino (Danny Reubens), whose feisty wife Lana (Ashley Shaw) immediately starts flirting with him. But Luca also has an eye on young Angelo (Henry Ondrak-Wright), who is bullied by the other guys. And Lana's sister Rita (Anna-Maria De Freitas) is also drawn to Angelo.

The soapy plot swirls around how Lana and Angelo are both smitten by Luca, leading to explosions of violence and a miscarriage of justice over the course of nine months. This is revealed through Bourne's expressive choreography, which plays cleverly on emotions that can't be contained. So the movement is exhilarating and sometimes menacing, a pungent tangle of passion, jealousy, innocence, yearning and revenge. 

Members of the large ensemble throw their bodies into the fray, with fully extended movement that often takes the breath away, creating a range of relationships around the edges while the five central figures jostle around each other. So the atmosphere is properly steamy, from the opening after-work shower sequence to a languishing summer evening during which these hot, young people can't be bothered to control their desires. This rowdy camaraderie is thoroughly entertaining, with sparky banter expressed through physicality rather than words.

The complex set helps to create an entire world, from the garage to a diner, nightclub and prison block. Solos and duets are simply gorgeous, evoking layered emotions with achingly cool visual flourishes. Among the show-stopping set pieces, there's a witty, telling pantomime and a very messy drag race. The tone veers expertly from lusty to playful to darkly grisly. And the darker second half charges headlong into a conclusion that's as grim as we expect it to be, creating a cautionary tale about not letting the libido completely control our lives. As if.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS > 

photos by Johan Persson • 31.Jul.26

Stage: Myth, memory and other bad ideas

–320°F
Minus Three Twenty Fahrenheit
written & directed by Hideki Noda
with Sadawo Abe, Suzu Hirose, Eri Fukatsu, Koji Ohkura, Shoko Takada, Yuri Kawakami, Satoshi Hashimoto, Hideki Noda, Isao Hashizume
choreography Shigehiro Ide
sets Yukio Horio • costumes Kodue Hibino
music Marihiko Hara • sound Raku Nakahara
lighting Motoi Hattori, Makoto Kitazawa
Sadler's Wells, London • 2-11.Jul.26 ★★★★

Following a run at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Japanese theatre company Noda Map brings a cast of 25 fully committed performers to London to stage this outrageously energetic epic play. Mixing various styles of theatre, this is a sparky mix of comedy, physical theatre, existential debate and absurd nuttiness. At 2 hours 20 minutes with subtitles and without an interval, it's not for the faint-hearted, but the bonkers storytelling and big ideas catch the imagination.

It's difficult, and perhaps pointless, to describe the Faustian narrative. But a brightly comical tone runs through the show, with constant sight gags, witty wordplay and cheeky characters who refuse to behave themselves. It opens with God (Isao Hashizume) making a wager with the Angel of Light (Suzu Hirose) about human desire. Then we're in the present day, as Professor Kyuri (Eri Fukatsu) is excavating for angel bones, the key to health, desire and longevity. She discovers that Help (Sadawo Abe) vibrates on the angelic frequency, so sends him into his genetic memories to both medieval and ancient times, seeking answers. And he's easily bribed with bananas.

All of this is set in a Tower of Babel that shifts through the eras, ruled by priests, monarchs or chief executives. There's a lot going on visually, with constant action as scenes shift using inventive trickery with light, sheets, screens, trap doors, steam vents and colourful costumes. It's dazzling to watch, thankfully directed with enough clarity to reveal exactly where to look. Each performer invests enormous personality and attitude into multiple roles, bringing them to life in ways that are continually surprising.

Along the way, the script tackles enormous questions, such as why humans are always running (to get away from metaphorical dinosaurs, of course). There's a Pied Piper who leads liberated lab mice or angels who have been frozen to –320°F to preserve them. But not all mice (or angels) follow the crowd. Conversations explore how our bones hold the memories of everything that has gone before, while fossilised bones communicate with the future. The show is a blinding mix of playful dialog, eye-catching choreography and heart-stopping insight. "When I had youth, I had nothing and I lacked nothing." "Beauty isn't an achievement."

Writer-director Hideki Noda, who performs as Kyuri's lively Assistant Stalwart, says that this play is designed to be something different for everyone who watches it, depending on how willing they are to connect with its more personal layers. Intriguingly, he acknowledges some will dismiss the show due to its excessive goofiness. But he clearly has these people in mind when he makes us laugh at something absurd or stops us with a profound observation. And in the end, this is a strikingly beautiful depiction of the folly of seeking eternal youth or trying to understand the meaning of humanity. Or of love itself.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS > • NODA MAP >

photos by Takashi Okamoto • 2.Jul.26