Frontiers, National Dance Company of Wales
August by Matthew William Robinson © Jorge Lizalde
It’s a little bit concerning when the main take away from a piece of dance is how cool the lighting was.
August, by outgoing Artistic Director Matthew William Robinson, took place under the watchful gaze of a long bar of light. Mainly red, although sometimes diverting to blue, green or white, different sections illuminated depending on where dancers were standing. Emma Jones’ lighting was a unique concept, however it did most of the narrative work, adding drama and dimension when the choreography (and score) often struggled. The piece opened with a run of intertwined couples, slowly sliding around eachother both as one and individually at the same time (intriguing). Unfortunately, as the piece progressed to more standard fare of contemporary group and solo work it struggled to express the personal evolution so promised in the work’s synopsis or develop from its choreographic starting point.
However, this criticism of the choreography is not a comment on the dance quality displayed.
As a company, National Dance Company of Wales was a slick machine, able to find expression in the quick and slow. In whip-fast sections especially, their bodies found the micro-adjustments within broad-brush movement, all while staying liquid smooth – or robotically rigid when required.
Skinners by Melanie Lane © Jorge Lizalde
And required it was in the night’s opening number. Melanie Lane’s Skinners served as a warning for the coming future where technology and the human experience is indistinguishable. Assisted by fantastic costuming by Don Aretino (think white sheets with outfits printed on them and obscured faces), seven dancers jittered and leaned as if in a glitchy computer game, as motifs constantly changed in a busy, but never chaotic, opener. Later the dancers escaped their virtual dystopia to rediscover true connection. As they tenderly undressed each other, the work became lightly sensual as they entwined and reconnected with life, grounding themselves in the earth and reminding themselves of the sensation of touch. While sometimes the work had a tendency to sit with an idea for too long, it was a thought provoking look at a future that might be more present than we’d care to admit.
As a social media-based dance critic, the irony of the placement of this review is not lost on me.
★★ — August, Matthew William Robinson
★★★ — Skinners, Melanie Lane
Frontiers by National Dance Company of Wales
The Place, London / 8 October 2024
Press ticket
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