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FOLKThe Patrick Centre
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** IN A roaring introduction to this year’s Dance Exchange Season in Birmingham, celebrations started with the National Dance Company Wales’ production of FOLK. The programme was a trilogy of distinct pieces
from dynamic choreographers from across the globe which aimed to explore
human relationships.
In the first piece, we
saw a company of six dancers perform
Tuplet, by the choreographer Alexander
Ekman. National Dance Company Wales are the first European Company to
perform his work. Ekman has previously imprinted his choreographic ideas
with worldwide companies including The Boston Ballet and Nederlands Dans
Theater, who recently performed in Birmingham at the International Dance
Festival in May this year. Ekman is interested in
working with different disciplines and designs. With a collaboration
that blends dance, lighting and the natural movement of the body,
Tuplet
explores the daily rhythms and habits that we make subconsciously. As a
dancer, rhythm is perhaps the most fundamental part of one’s work. Ekman
reaches out and explores rhythm of everyday life through artistic
movement in a thought provoking and striking manner with the rhythm of
dance at its forefront. The lighting design from Amith A. Chandrashaker
gloriously aids the production with its fast-paced style and brings a
separate rhythm to the production. In an interesting sequence that shows
how we present ourselves, dancers use square spotlights to embody
actions and movements which become increasingly faster and vibrant. The overarching atmosphere of Ekman’s vision
shows the hustle and bustle of everyday life. He gives each dancer a
stand out integrity. Through this freedom, the audience can see strong
elements of their own daily habits and rhythms. Each element of the production is thorough and
has an important place in the exploration of movement. Music by Mikeal
Karlson allows the audience to think about the ways in which we go about
our day-to-day lives. Movement, lighting and sound are separate entities
within Ekman’s production but come together to create a beautiful
performance of enticing thought and brilliant talent. The second work of the
programme is called They Seek To Find
The Happiness They Seem by Lee Johnson.
It is her second piece for National Dance Company Wales. In this
ethereal and touching work, two dancers embody Johnson’s ideas in a duet
that explores relationships. It delves deeper into what makes up a
couple’s life and seeks to show the secrets behind closed doors. The piece starts with touching movements from the
male and female dancer, giving a sense of tranquillity and a fruitful
relationship. Their movements are one together with beautiful sequenc
Johnson gives the audience a delectable
cliff-hanger ending. The dancers do well to bring the high-octane
passion to a close to which the audience are left with the final image
of them facing each other, uncertain of what will happen next. As the
lights draw to blackout, is easy for the audience to want more out of
this unnerving story. The final piece of the
trilogy and from which the programme takes is title is seen in Caroline
Finn’s Folk.
Finn is the National Dance Company Wales’ Artistic Director. Her work,
which includes an impressive set and lighting design by Joe Fletcher, is
an exploration into the way in which people will act in various
scenarios. The setting has a fairy-tale feel, with an
uprooted grey tree suspended in the air and fallen leaves on the ground.
The company of nine dancers embody nymph-like characters to create a
fictional world that gives way to the meaning of social etiquette. The
setting truly blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Whilst we see
the imaginative setting, we are also able to understand the real
connections between groups of people and the consequences of not
complying with a group’s social norms. The choral movement of the company are
delightfully visceral. The audience can see and individual talent for
every dancer and as they come together, the theme of adhering to social
normality is twisted and presents the question of what is normal and
what isn’t. The company of dancers are impressive moving as
one to create a unique story through performance art. The company
command the stage with time and shapes in order to make a wonderful
story of striking characters and thumping sequences of movement.
Captivating characters are enhanced by Gabriella Slade’s costume design. Within the trilogy of FOLK, we saw the overall
theme of people and their habits. Each choreographer fascinated the
audience with a keen understanding to the heart and essence of how
people work together to create community and relationships. We could
distinctly see the influence from each artist and the visions that they
achieved. The programme created a fascinating night of visually striking
art as well as shedding a light into the thoughtfulness of seeing how
our own social world is made. To 23-09-16 Elizabeth Halpin 22-09-16
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