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.

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photos by Ash • 26.Nov.25