NATIONAL DANCE COMPANY WALES SPRING SEASON | STAGE REVIEW
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sat 7 Feb
Earlier this month National Dance Company Wales (NDCW) opened its doors to present its new Spring Season Programme. The evening included Walking Mad, an imaginative whimsical piece by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger.
Using the multipurpose folding wall the dancers create new spaces and scenarios. Chaotic, playful and mischievous. Over the simple track of a snare drum the piece became other worldly. Overlapping and entwining stories created the feeling of jovial celebration. It was as though the charismatic dancers had fallen into a pop-up book of adult’s fairy tales. According to Inger it is a piece about ‘relationships in different forms and circumstances’ , the layers of plot and subplot seeming boundless.
The opening piece, Mythology, included the entire company. It evoked a voyeuristic feeling of spying on herds in the wilderness. Choreographer Stephen Shropshire wanted to portray a sense of ‘community.’ Using this as a chance to tell the story of his last days at Noor Netherkands Dans, who closed its doors in 2012.
The whole company moved with purpose to a hypnotic booming speech, on loop. Never making physical contact they moved united, codified. Flocking, swarming until one by one, peeling away to reveal a duet or glimpse of a solo.
Lee Johnston’s duet based on ‘dislocation and separation’ complimented these longer more elaborate pieces. ”Fascinated by the impenetrable inner world between couples” Johnston paid homage to the likes of Cafe Muller; using repetition and interdependency as a theme. Exploring the complexity of being an individual within a pair. The movement varied from violent bursts to intimate exchanges. Meanwhile the use of perspective as the female dancers looked out past the audience gave us an insight into her partners loneliness.
The final piece Tuplet, was fresh and exciting. Based on the concept of rhythm, choreographer Alexander Ekman wanted the piece to remain truthful and for the dancers to have ”an experience” on stage. Using vocal expression the dancers allowed their own sounds to compliment and fill their movements. The result was fun, humorous and fast-paced.
Contemporary dance can be so many things and this evening gave a great preview of its spectrum. Be it a social commentary, lighthearted humor, witty love story or all the above and then some. NDCW have created a strong, unique and exciting repertoire. The quality of the evening was uncompromisingly high and the company are clearly pushing themselves as thinking performers as well as physical artists. The Spring Programme aims to “entertain and surprise our audiences” which is exactly what the evening did, promising a very exciting new Season for the company.
words SINNEAD ALI
Venues across Wales, Fri 13 Feb- Fri 15 May. Tickets: £14-£16.50 / £7-£12 conc. Info: 029 2063 5600 / www.ndcwales.co.uk