NOBODADDY, Teaċ Daṁsa
Sam Amidon, Jovana Zelenovic, Holly Vallis, Jimmy Southward, Ryan O'Neill, Ino Riga in Teaċ Daṁsa’s NOBODADDY © Emilija Jefremova
“If she had insurance plan 5-2316046D instead of 5-235584298B she wouldn’t be in this mess!”
If two hospital security guards refusing to help an injured patient is where NOBODADDY started, it sure isn’t where it ended up.
Set to a series of live folk tunes arranged by Sam Amidon, Irish choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan’s latest work sure knows how to make you feel. One second, you’re recoiling as a man lathers himself in butter, the next you’re howling in laughter as another man repeatedly recites poetry before launching himself off a step ladder. Physical comedy is at the heart of this theatrical dance work. Even during the reflective folk songs that are sandwiched between chapters of high octane, physical dance, nothing can stay serious for long: a choir is attacked with angel wings, acapella performers share a pot of jam. It’s controlled chaos to the highest degree.
Threading her way through the work is our fallen patient (Rachel Poirier), who has made a miraculous recovery to dance through nearly the entire 1 hour 40 minute creation (note: no interval). She’s either running around the stage, revealing a rabid drummer within a huge wooden box (the band are as much performers as the dancers), attacking her fellow performers or singing with a mix of fear and wonder in her eyes.
Rachel Poirier in Teaċ Daṁsa’s NOBODADDY © Emilija Jefremova
‘Nobodaddy’ is a destructive divinity created by the poet William Blake. The name is intended to be ironic here – Keegan-Dolan wants the work to celebrate peace makers. But while the serious folk interludes gave the piece a reflective edge (albeit with a sprinkle of uncanny thrown in for good measure), the result felt more chaotic and calamitous than celebratory. In fact, it was hard to make much head or tail of it. As a patchwork of ideas, the piece struggled to find a narrative thread that tied them all together and push it somewhere. Instead, the only theme it had was the repeating pattern of darkly-comic dance and folk interludes.
At a surface level, the resulting creation is an unserious rave and music concert and an incredibly fun night out. Teaċ Daṁsa are a strong and versatile company, able to sail through the multiple dance styles thrown at them (from jigs to popping through almost-commercial contemporary) with ease. But try to work out where a short hospital drama fits into it all, and you may be left utterly bamboozled.
★★★★
NOBODADDY by Michael Keegan-Douglas, performed by Teaċ Daṁsa
Sadler’s Wells, London / 27 November 2024
Press ticket
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