Dance: Dancing in the streets

The Center Will Not Hold
A Dorrance Dance Production
created and directed by Ephrat Asherie, Michelle Dorrance
with John Angeles, Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Manon Bal, Tomoe “Beasty” Carr, Michelle Dorrance, Zakhele “Bboy Swazi” Grabowski, Fritzlyn Hector, Caleb Lawrence Jackson, Michael Manson Jr, Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, Matthew “Megawatt” West
music Donovan Dorrance • costumes Amy Page
lighting Kathy Kaufmann • sound Christopher Marc
Sadler's Wells, London • 17-18.Apr.26 ★★★★★

A continuous blast of rhythmic physicality, this astonishing one-hour UK premiere traces an expansive range of vernacular dance, everyday community-based movement that is rarely learned formally. It follows a through-line from tap to street, house, hip hop and other American styles of fancy footwork. And the company is an eclectic group of performers who use their own body types and personal skills to choreograph the show, with solos that are improvised on the spot. It's utterly mesmerising to watch, propulsive and thrilling but also playful and engaging on a variety of levels.

The performance styles merge into each other with the help of fiendishly inventive lighting that makes the dancers appear or disappear, often glowing in a dreamily as they float across the stage seemingly defying laws of time and space. And a repeating motif finds them either trapped or highlighted in spotlight squares and circles. Accompanying Donovan Dorrance's soulful music, talented percussionist John Angeles is on-stage throughout the piece. He adds his own muscular presence, creating rhythms with drums, cymbals, a table, the stage and his own body as he joins in the movement. 

Repeatedly at the centre are Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance, who appear in a central rectangle, bouncing both together and against each other. This show was born from their 2022 duet A Little Room, then expanded and reimagined around them. And each performer is allowed to steal the focus. Standouts include Tomoe Carr with her fierce intensity and Caleb Lawrence Jackson with his over-sized afro and lightning-fast feet. And then there are Matthew West, Charles Riley and Zakhele Grabowski, who reject gravity as they throw their feet to the sky, spinning on their heads and hands with extraordinary strength. 

Costumes have a deceptive simplicity: black suits and trainers or tap shoes. Combined with the plain stage, this allows us to see the performers' physical motion as they catch the light in intriguing ways, especially when primary colours are applied. This is an innovative, thumpingly involving show that continually surprises us with insight, such as the way it reveals the innate elegance in popping and breaking. And the camaraderie between the dancers comes through vividly. They're clearly having a great time, so of course we want to get on the stage with them.

For information, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Christopher Duggan • 17.Apr.26