Radioactive Practice, Abby Z and the New Utility
Abby Z and the New Utility in Radioactive Practice © Ben McKeown
“Come on hotties!”
Just one of the many encouraging words shouted on and off stage between our dancers during Abby Zbikowski’s one-hour show Radioactive Practice. In fact, it was the soundtrack.
Zbikowski’s piece (performed at Sadler’s Wells as part of Dance Umbrella , London’s international dance festival) was performed to silence, with booming music only used in between scenes, giving the dancers much needed rest time. This athletic work (her choreography’s sports influence was more evident than expected) featured dancers throwing themselves to the floor, slamming across the stage on their backs, slapping themselves with long arms, vibrating, falling to their knees, and, at one point, intertwining with each other to form strange beasts. It was high energy and high effort, the dancer’s encouraging words needed to get each other through this often gruelling routine, which was reminiscent of athletes doing drills in a gymnasium or a series of karate katas.
It was all quite hypnotic.
With 360 seating, we were able to get up close and personal with the dancers. Trainers squeaked and tapped along the floor in varying rhythms, acting as an inconsistent metronome in the silence. Meanwhile, the dance continuously evolved, gripping you in wonder at how Zbikowski would take this even further and explore this highly-experimental contemporary dance language.
The word ‘experimental’ is key here.
Abby Z and the New Utility in Radioactive Practice © Maria Baranova
This work will not be for everyone. It is boundary-pushing, art-student-esque, and truly non-narrative with no climaxing moment where meaning is given as the work pulls together in the final minutes. This makes it heavy going at times and disappointing in its lack of clarity or big reveal. It is not easy consumption and must be entered with an open mind — cynicism will not last long here. But it is dance exploration. Exploration of new ways in which the body can move – some head scratching, some genius – and yet it all makes sense within the realm Zbikowski builds.
In a time where funding is tight and the pressure to make commercially viable work is high, it’s great to see choreographers taking risks at the fringes of our understanding of movement and pushing our understanding of what dance can be.
★★★★
Radioactive Practise by Abby Z and the New Utility
Sadler’s Wells, London / 18 October 2024
Press ticket
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