Playing from 7-31st August 2015 at Zoo Venues -Edinburgh
Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of dropping into The Place in King's Cross; a sturdy London venue that allows you to practise, watch and champion dance in many forms. This was true for the evenings performance, if you can include humans that morph into superheroes, that change into secret even more special versions of those superheroes, and then back to the original superheroes. Confusing much? Well that seemed to be the point of this pieces narrative; utter confusion and an inability to keep track of what's going on because, well, we all want to be the heroes of our own story right? The characters of this story certainly did, and it was being re-written and re-told over and over and over again...! Starting from the top, the main character (known as CAP) delivers an 'origin story' where the audience learn about the loss of his closest friend and partner in crime 'Lucky.' CAP makes it his mission to seek justice on behalf of his friend and enlists the help of three other superheroes with different powers. Just as CAP goes on to try and deliver his 'I'm a strong American powerhouse who will save the woooooorlllld!' story the other actors start to break their roles to intervene with a query or costume quabble. This is where the humour was most definitely injected throughout, especially as the characters are often simply saying what you are thinking. Just as you had your 'suspend disbelief' hat on, it was whipped off your head and replaced with the 'break the comic book cliche' hat and then switched around in an instant. Each character wilfully joined in with CAP's retelling of the story to a point, until it wasn't quite what they were hoping for their character's fate. This came in line with the political link, as the constant power struggle between heroes was put on show for all to see. Sound familiar? The movement was highly impressive and boy were these guys strong. The piece was carefully choreographed and delivered by the performers themselves, which was clear to see as each performer made the best out of their skills and abilities and showed them off well.
Some choreography highlights were the 'Tango' section performed to 'El Tango de Roxanne'-Jose Feliciano, the ensemble performance to 'Slam' by Pendulum, and 'Sidekick's' carefully choreographed fight with a group of invisible villains. This was super creative and delivered highly on the illusion front. In fact it is so far my 'creative highlight of the year!' The 'Tokyo' video game reference was fun and nostalgic-enough to make me put a date in the diary to go to the arcade just so I can have a go on the old school games myself. The graphics and animations which were projected throughout the production were a huge part of the show and added so much to the set, which was quite minimal. It gave it a filmic value which I think was necessary for this kind of show, and the visuals had an iconic element true to any comic book fans taste.
For something different this summer, do go and check this out in Edinburgh. If you're a dance fan, Marvel fan or comedy fan, the has a lot to offer and I promise you will leave smiling.
On Saturday 3rd May I went to the Breakin' Convention, and got to speak to Cindy Claes (see her interview posted earlier on the blog) and her Intern who decided to follow her passion and ask Cindy for a chance to work with her. As always, I love to promote inspiring dance stories so here is a little clip about how she approached following her 'Danceheart' and also a great clip from Cindy discussing her performance from the night which told an important and familiar story. Sadly the sound quality wasn't so great on some of it but it's still great to hear about!
Commissioned by Dance City, in association with Cambridge Junction, MDI, Unity Theatre.
Made at The Place.
PanicLab, set up in 2008 produce contemporary dance theatre with a 'personal or political edge and a dose of humour'. This sounds like a strong basis for brave and interesting storytelling. Their work is usually devised, and they collaborate with others to make their work accessible to all, something which I feel is VERY important.
To see what this exciting performing arts company are all about, check out their new show R.I.O.T:
"Four performers playing at superheroes are caught in a series of conflicts
which are both personal, and intricately political. Spiced with comic
book and action hero references, their epic adventure unfolds through
action-packed choreography and projected illustrations, as they question what a
superhero might look like in today’s complex and troubled world?" The show was said to initially be inspired but the student riots, and looks set to be packed with action, movement and strong imagery. See some preview clips and the trailer here:
This company will be performing at the Edinburgh fringe, so for a sneak preview, don't miss out! Photo by Manuel Vason Information from Abstrakt publicity
In the words of Erykah Badu- 'What a day, what a
day!' Hip-hop theatre fans from across the country (actually that's
modest...from across the world) gathered at London's main dance house and holy
grail Sadler's Wells over the early May Bank Holiday weekend, to experience the
excitement that is…the Breakin' Convention. I've been excited about this for
weeks, as I discovered many others were after talking to them as they flocked
into the building. Saturday hosted an incredible line-up, and it seemed that
most people were holding out for a characterful performance from Les Twins (see
below, they gave us the freshest versions of themselves, and the crowd were
loving it).
For those of you who haven’t been to this event
before, the hype begins much earlier in the day, as there are bookable workshops
going on with many of the top artists that the festival has signed up for that
year. The workshops on Saturday included Waacking, Breaking and Breaking
conditioning, Locking, and a masterclass with Les Twins, which sold out pretty
quickly! I was curious to see why people had come along to the festival; was it
to help out as a volunteer or to be a dance groupie? There were lots of fans
for sure, but the variety of dance acts that the festival displays, means it
brings in a variety of people. This is what I love about mixing up genres. Of
course, the dance styles all come under the hip-hop umbrella, but some people
were there to see one particular act for their own personal joy, and some were
there because they knew someone who knew someone who knew someone, or because
hip-hop was simply a way of life. One lady I spoke to had come from a b-boy
crew in Scotland called the ‘Flying Jalapenos’ and her highlight of the whole
night was the simple appearance of The Legendary Twins and their ‘on-stage
chat’ with host and creator of the festival Jonzi-D. Another pair I chatted to
were street dance teachers from their school in Bradford waiting to be inspired
by Les Twins performance. Much to my happiness I spoke to a few Mum’s who had
ushered their kids along to continue their motivation and nurture their love of
hip-hop dance (it all started with Soulja boy for two little brothers I spoke
to!) I’ll be posting my video up soon which will give more of a flavor of the event
later on so watch out for this!
Every year, standing tickets are sold, and
Sadler’s Wells remove the front stalls seats for a rootsy experience. I think
it is important, and I’m sure the organiser wants to stay true to the culture
that you would have in MC or hip- hop dance events when they were more on the
street than the stage. Even Jonzi-D himself, who was also the MC for the
evening said the standing people were ‘his people’ and secretly, everyone wants
to be in the standing section, even if they get a realllly good seat.
So first up were, ‘The Company’ a group of
strong men with powerful movement. What grabbed me most about their performance
were the formations and patterns in which they moved across the stage. The
lighting was soft throughout, giving a contemporary feel and their choreography
flowed through different styles.
Gianni Gi impressed us next with her bone
breaking arms, and her angular, jagged choreography. Her on stage character
reminiscent of a troubled ‘patient’ from somewhere who was expressing her
unsettlement was my take on it. Her flexibility was outstanding and the story
she was telling with her body was gripping from start to finish.
GOP had me laughing away, mainly because of
their crazy energy! It was a real uplifter when they came on stage in their
kooky little skirts. I love Afrobeats because it always feels like you’ve
rocked up at a carnival party. See the video below of their piece ‘What’s in
the bag?’
GOP
I was so excited for UNITY, and boy did they
bring a powerful piece. I loved Unity Youth’s dance, which was performed at
Future Elements in March so I was expecting to be blown away with their power
and East London-ness. It was vigorous and mannish, and each dancer displayed
the unbelievable skill and discipline and unique qualities in this dark piece.
There were fewer performers than when I remembered watching them before which
was the only thing I missed a little as it is unity and unison they do so well.
Nevertheless, they still packed a punch in their delivery, and the shift in
their style and message still rings true of where they come from which I really
like. I’ll be following them a little more to stay in touch with the message of
their work.
Flockey….ahhhh Flockey. Flockey the locker, ooh
was he cool. His piece was about a man and his relationship with alcohol, which
was nicely shown in his choreography and music choices, starting with James
Brown’s ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s world’. He started leading us into more
up-tempo beats as he used his locking techniques and funky footwork to take us
into those strange dimensions that someone would experience in a whirlwind
relationship with alcohol. Smoke and lights added to this effect and had me
pondering this story and who this man might have been. A nice little happy
birthday shout out from Flockey to his Mum in the audience melted a few hearts
too!
Flockey
Antoinette Gomis just gave us sheer beauty. She
merged so many styles and as a solo piece, well she made me proud to be a woman
that’s for sure. Her opening movements accompanied Nina Simone and took us into
an exhibition of expression that reminded us how important our rights are as
women and as people. She was such a storyteller, and her musicality was
mesmerising.
Antoinette Gomis
The finale to the first half EXPLODED! By far
one of the highlights of the evening and for many people were ‘The Ruggeds’
from the Netherlands. A huge B-Boy crew who are the current world B-Boy
champions delivered on every level. I was expecting classic B-Boying at it’s
best, but there were so many styles displayed, and they were on point in every
unified sequence. We got a chance to see their individual styles too, and they
made us all laugh when they bought out their Swiss Balls (whoop whoo!) and
demonstrated ‘Swiss ball Bants’ B-boy style. It’s easy to see why they are the
champions. If they are ever performing again anywhere, GO AND SEE THEM!
The Ruggeds
During the interval, we dashed over to the
Lillian Baylis Studio to see Cindy Claes perform her solo piece. I sat down and
said ‘ Oooh I wonder what that trophy is for on stage?’ upon which the girl
next to nipped in, ‘It’s for Cindy’s piece.’ What a great girl she was, I found
out she was in fact Cindy’s intern. You can see her story on the video, which
will be posted up very soon. Cindy’s stage story was all about having to choose
between giving to your relationship or giving to your career. I really
identified with Cindy’s piece a lot and loved how she bought humour to her
dancing with her experessions every time her ‘boyfriend’ called her on her
phone. More than anything the narrative was clear and reachable and this is
what I think is so endearing about her as an artist. Oh, and her dancing was
fierce, I’m going to start going to her classes if it means I can move like
that!
I must give a mention to ‘Myself’, an all female
hip-hop dance group who aim to promote ‘empowerment, ambition, individuality
and self-worth’ to females and the wider society. Their act (which closed the
Lillian Baylis event) showed them transferring clothing from one to another, no
music, just movement, expression and reactions. They took us down a path of
reflecting on image, and what is expected of us as women, how we are
objectified and what we should look like. The mixture of movement, spoken word
and then clean powerful choreography was executed with the right attitude and
energy for what they wanted to promote, and I walked out of the studio feeling
proud to be a woman! (Who said ‘this is a Man’s world hmmm?)
The second half continued to get stronger and
stronger, and Iron Skulls from Spain ripped into the theatre with only torchlight
and gas masks making me wonder if I was in a post apocalyptic video game for a
moment or two. A single dancer came from the back of the theatre and performed
an incredible solo with the torch perfectly positioned to cast his whole shadow
neatly onto the clean backdrop. Even the middle class man who calmly watched
the show as I whooped and squealed away next to him whispered to his lady ‘Ooh
that’s clever isn’t it Julie?’ see…something for everyone! This solo was
followed by other dancers scrawling up to the stage like animals through the
audience to perform a fierce set, which was gloomy yet adventurous, and
reminded me just how varied and wonderful hip-hop theatre is now.
Iron Skulls
A trio of twins led us to the end of the show,
with The Legendary Twins, the original B-Boys making an appearance on stage for
a chat about how it all began. Twin Peak from east London followed with a cool
performance, finishing with Beyonce’s boys Les Twins. Not only did they give us
dance, they gave us their music! Yes…an exclusive preview of their new track…be
warned it’s catchy and they were WONDERFUL.
What I loved most about this event was the
variety of dance acts. Hip-hop dance stretches far and wide now, and with it,
it encompasses a large cross section of people. So many people were there
because they understand the roots, and energy and discipline that comes with
this kind of culture and we all felt privileged to be there, I could just tell.
I was sad that I missed Sunday as I would have liked to have seen Buckness
Personified (see my video interview with one of the dancers backstage at the Great
Big Dance Off). Thanks to BCTV you can watch them perform here:
This was a happy day for me, experiencing people
who love dance and hip-hop culture in one of my favourite places in London and
seeing some of the world’s finest dancers. This is to me what Glastonbury is to
Kate Moss-Essential.
Photos by Paul Hampartsoumian
Special Thanks to Dave Barros from Breakin' Convention and Anna Goodman from Abstrakt publicity
The last production of Bugsy Malone I saw was at a secondary school a few years ago, which was executed in as charming a way as possible due to the casting and thoughtful staging. I’m guessing that along with seeing the classic film, many of the audience members who have already ventured to see this show may have had a similar experience of seeing this done by a school or amateur theatre company, and are well aware of the clichés that can come with the Bugsy label.
In using this term however, I suppose it is also because of those clichés that I was looking forward to seeing it so much. The familiar, 'done well' can be quite a pleasing event, and I figured that the newly refurbished Lyric (great job by the way, I’d love to check out the new rehearsal rooms) were not going to do anything too shabby. I was quite drawn in by the poster alone: a flurry of children running through a smoky backstreet through a New York city light, which gave me the glimmer of childlike excitement that I experienced when watching ‘Emil and the Detectives’ back in November 2013. I’m a keen bean when it comes to child adventure films such as ‘The Sandlot’ an American tale of boy who is accepted into a group of baseball misfits, and ‘Stand by me’ the Stephen King favourite, both celebrating friendship ultimately. The tale of Bugsy doesn’t so much spur on the idea of friendship, but certainly aspiration and fulfilling dreams. This seemed a very appropriate theme for showcasing the talent that was beautifully picked. The cast really were the stars (for want of another cliché) of this show and all shared the endearing qualities necessary to warm to the celebration of the ‘child gangster’. There was a real representation of the different young faces you would see across London. Their New Yoik accents were complete ticklers, and sat nicely. Every time Fat Sam told Knuckles to ‘quit crackin’ his knuckles!’ I gave a little giggle or yelp.
The costume and style I felt remained very true and authentic to the typical understanding of a Bugsy character. The costumes were dark, smart and mobster like, and the girls dresses reflected that of the Gangster's Moll. It all fitted together. The car scene when Bugsy takes his $200 risky venture out for Fat Sam was great fun, and I hope the car will have a place somewhere very special afterwards. It looked as though it had been crafted carefully, and the brilliant lighting used in this scene to create the montage was clever and stylised well. There wasn't an overuse of a projection or unnecessary clunky set changes. Showbiz moments were outlined by the marvellous lightbulbs that framed the stage, and the characters were cast well for their humorous qualities. Dandy Dan being a small boy with a big attitude, and Lena Marelli, the star of her own show being tiny but far from timid. It was almost like she was plucked out of the original film. The voices of the actresses playing Tallulah and Blousey are worth a big mention. Both held their own, but it was particularly the quality of Blousey's voice that got my attention. Her voice quality was quite unique and left me wanting to hear more. She portrayed the emotion of the character perfectly. The boxing scene was my highlight, and I really enjoyed how choreographer used the red elastic rope to create the ring. It was the 'transitioning and swapping' of the ring position that impressed me, as different Boxers took to the ring to demonstrate their worth whilst the other dancers switched their position each time.
I felt utter delight (literally- call me a comedian!) when the splurge guns shot out the Angel Delight filling, and it raised that playful childlike chuckler inside me. In fact, this playful mood was with me right until the end, and I was on my feet for the final song which was a funked up special that gave the cast and the audience a burst of energy they had been waiting for after that big 'Splurge battle.' Go and see this, take your school, your kids, your friends or your date! You'll get to see how wonderful the new Lyric is looking and what it has to offer. Lisa and I have been showing the children at school Bugsy this week and have been working on it with our Drama group. I feel like it's their right of passage to know this story and I hope they'll go and see the young actors and be inspired to take their performing as seriously as they do.
