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

Dance: Kick off your Sunday shoes

Turn It Out 
with Tiler Peck & Friends
director-curator Tiler Peck
lighting Brandon Stirling Baker
costumes Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, Robert Rosenwasser, Amy Page
sound design Christopher Merc
Sadler's Wells, London • 9-11.Mar.23

Acclaimed as one of the very best American ballerinas, New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck curated this collection of four energetic pieces at Sadler's Wells. Each is a distinctive celebration of dance performed by a supremely talented ensemble that clearly loves what they do. "Dance is such a hard thing to do," Peck says. "But I love it so much. It really is the best feeling in the world."

Thousandth Orange
choreography Tiler Peck
music Caroline Shaw
dancers Jovani Furlan, Christopher Grant, Lauren Lovette, Mira Nadon, Quinn Starner, KJ Takahashi
musicians Shu-Wei Tseng, Sophia Prodanova, Max Mandel, Adrian Bradbury
(Note that the image is from a previous production)

Created as a conversation between choreographer and dancers, this opens with a tableau featuring six performers in pastel costumes. They then dissolve into couples, spinning in their own directions while also engaging with each other and forming larger shapes together. It's a lovely flourish of colour, a charming burst of classical dance with modern attitude. And the dancers' physicality is remarkable, moving and interacting in enticing ways. Composer Shaw describes the title as a reference to seeing the same thing (like a piece of fruit) over and over again, and yet always finding something new in it.

Swift Arrow
choreography Alonzo King
music Jason Moran
dancers Roman Mejia, Tiler Peck
piano Shu-Wei Tseng

This duet was inspired by Hindu philosophy relating to the soul's desire to close the gap between ourselves and others. It's a fiercely physical piece, in which Peck and Mejia spiral around, pushing in opposition and pulling into each other, while also echoing, growing closer and even merging as one. It's a visceral, intensely energetic performance with physicality that's fascinating rather than passionate. Wearing only a pair of shorts, Mejia has a dominant, lean physicality, while Peck demonstrates her own astonishing strength with staggering pointe work. Indeed, both dancers are riveting, balancing each other perfectly.

Time Spell
choreography Michelle Dorrance, Jillian Meyers, Tiler Peck
music Aaron Marcellus Sanders, Penelope Wendlandt
dancers Michelle Dorrance, Christopher Grant, Lex Ishimoto, Lauren Lovette, Roman Mejia, Jillian Meyers, Mira Nadon, Tiler Peck, Quinn Starner, KJ Takahashi, Byron Tittle

Infused with joy, this is a large-scale explosion of energy and style, blending ballet, modern dance, tap dancing and hiphop together in ways that are often dazzling. And it's accompanied by live music from Sanders and Wendlandt, who use their voices to improvise a score while interacting on-stage with the dancers. The various genres blur together in inventive ways that catch the audience by surprise, and the enthusiasm of each dancer is palpable. At the centre is the interaction between ballerina Peck and tap expert Dorrance, who breathtakingly mirror each other's work. Watching Peck tap dance en pointe alongside Dorrance is heart-stopping.

The Barre Project, Blake Works II
choreography William Forsythe
music James Blake 
dancers Lex Ishimoto, Brooklyn Mack, Roman Mejia, Tiler Peck

Finally, the ballet barre is the focal-point for this multi-part performance involving Peck and four male dancers, plus a rather perplexing short film featuring only hands. The clever choreography allows the dancers to bring their personalities onto the stage, adding some cheeky spark as they interact both with the barre and each other, once again creating an overlapping space where ballet and modern dance interact. Peck's easy grace and weightless leaps are mesmerising, especially alongside male dancers who provide shows of strength and gravity while also soaring themselves.

Each segment is infused with a traditional approach to gender, with muscly men paired with fluid women, performing steps in distinctly male or female styles. So even with progressive approaches to music and choreography, the show also remains oddly stuck in the past. That said, every movement is simply gorgeous, often thrillingly expressive as different forms of dance are fused together into something eye-catching and fresh. These are dancers performing at the very peak of physicality, skill and natural talent. And they bring a playfulness to the stage that's infectious.

For details, visit SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Geovanny Santillan, Christopher Duggan, Rosalie O'Connor • 10.Mar.23