Dance: Adventures in space

Pia
director-choreographer Katya Bourvis
performers Sonia Marie Dvorak, Sirena Tocco, Janet Amsden, Christian Michael Tworzyanski, Tala Lee-Turton, Benji Knapper, Phoebe Higgins, Zac Priestley
music Hannah Peel • dramaturg Tala Lee-Turton
voice artists Dan Moore, John Parkin
musicians Zone One Brass • costumes Katherine Watt
lighting Jackie Shemesh • sound Andrew Morgan
Milton Court Concert Hall, London • 23.Oct.26 ★★★

Commissioned by the Barbican and Barnsley Civic, this ambitious new dance piece takes a fantastical journey through a woman's life, tackling big issues like memory, imagination and dreams. It is packed with dazzling sequences that catch the eye and ear in powerfully resonant ways, as the skilled performers evoke a range of emotions. That said, it's impossible to escape the feeling that this is also a rather indulgent show in need of some editing.

From Barnsley, Pia is continuously on-stage at three ages: as an older woman (Janet Amsden) dealing with memory loss, in vibrant middle age (Sirena Tocco) sorting through souvenirs and as a young dancer (Sonia Marie Dvorak) performing with an ensemble. Katya Bourvis' complex choreography depicts scenes that include simple everyday realities, issues surrounding her life in a mining community and larger earth-shattering events. And dancer-writer Tala Lee-Turton forms this into a lovely non-linear narrative.

Through all of this, Pia's creativity emerges in colourful flights of fancy as she becomes fascinated by space travel, ultimately seeing herself as an astronaut visiting the stars. All of this coalesces into a gorgeous portrait packed with elements that we can vividly identify with, from yearning to pain to celebration. Accompanying this is a live 17-piece brass band playing music inspired by Hannah Peel's record Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia, with added flourishes from the themes for Star Trek, Barbarella, Dr Who and 2001: A Space Odyssey, plus Tainted Love and snippets from a 1980 Arthur Scargill speech.

The excellent dancers perform the precise, intricate and eye-catching choreo as a mix of classical ballet and expressive modern movement. Dressed in eclectic costumes, their physical strength and stamina is impressive, as are the beautiful shapes they form all the way through the show. There's a memorable duet for Dvorak and Christian Michael Tworzyanski, performed without music to an ambient soundscape. And the seriously gifted Benji Knapper has a series of stunning solos.

Throughout this performance, there were some lighting issues that left performers in shadows. And the ending feels oddly anticlimactic, as it continues through a series of codas (one of which is oddly inert) following what felt like a satisfying finale. But the show is packed with meaning, balancing aching grief, soaring romance and joyously funny moments. And the dancing has a wonderfully weightless quality that lingers.

For information, KATYA BOURVIS >

photos by Foteini Christofilopoulou, workshop photos by Camilla Greenwell,
artwork by Hannah Brewerton • 23.Oct.26