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: Into the void

Company Wayne McGregor
Deepstaria
director-choreographer-designer Wayne McGregor
dancers Rebecca Bassett-Graham, Naia Bautista, Kevin Beyer, Salvatore De Simone, Chia-Yu Hsu, Hannah Joseph, Jasiah Marshall, Jayla O’Connell, Mariano Zamora Gonzaléz
lighting Theresa Baumgartner
sound Nicolas Becker and LEXX
set Benjamin Males • costumes Ilaria Martello 
Sadler's Wells, London • 27.Feb-2.Mar.25 ★★★★

Taking its name from a genus of jellyfish, Deepstaria is a meditation on humanity's fascination with endless voids like the deep sea and outer space. Wayne McGregor gives his seriously impressive dancers demanding choreography that creates the impression of floating in weightlessness. And the set is a high-tech visual wonder, with inky blacks, dazzling lights and an audio mix that seems to send music and sounds right into our bones. It's an extraordinary experience for the audience, even if it's so intensely serious that emotional resonance feels just out of reach.

The dancers perform the otherworldly moves with unusual fluidity, seemingly floating as they stretch and spin around the stage. While there are a few sections featuring the entire nine-person company, much of this programme features solos and duets, plus a couple of intensely powerful trios. Each performer gets their moment to shine brightly. Movement is big, full-bodied and expressive, and the interaction is laced with subtle touches as dancers come together, sometimes echoing, competing or challenging each other. The highlight is an extended duet between two men that beautifully plays with balance and connection.

All of this takes place on a bare stage that is flooded with always moving lights, creating what looks like currents in the dancers' movements. The set may be made using Vantablack Vision, the light-absorbing coating that is used in telescopes, but it is thoroughly illuminated with lights that refract through constantly swirling mist. This adds to the sense of weightlessness and provides a couple of stunning moments, from a piercing light that breathes straight into our eyes to a shimmering rainfall effect that looks like magic.

Designed to make the most of the dancers' athleticism and physical grace, the costumes shift through the show, from black briefs to paper-thin sweats to tunics that are made from a translucent material called Japanese organza, which seems to drift in slow motion. They are transformed using coloured lighting, which maintains the show's continual shifting nature, as the movement switches from light and sweeping to sharply pointed, between solo numbers and communal pieces.

All of this is simply gorgeous to look at, performed with precision by the gifted dancers, while the complex sound mix is what guides us through a sense of emotional tonality. Intriguingly, this layered audio is programmed through the artificial-intelligence technology Bronze, which adds the unpredictability of live performance and could possibly be something live performers take exception to. But its visceral impact is undeniable.

For details, SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Ravi Deepres • 27.Feb.25