SVJ DANCE: CLEAR CUT | STAGE REVIEW
M.A.D.E. Gallery, Cardiff, Thurs 23 Apr
Taking place in Roath’s charming M.A.D.E. arts café, this quaint performance area allowed for a full immersion for the audience into the pieces included in Clear Cut. Rebecca Hammett presented an experimental drawing-performance and gave the impression of being introverted, with strict focus. When the audience were invited to approach as she drew, there was a feeling of spying in on a private ceremony. Rebecca wore a metal helmet with long extending limbs; they swished, dragged and thudded along the canvas, chalking lines and curves. Audience members approached, possibly expecting a portrait to emerge, but instead found a story of the exoskeletons journey.
Rebecca mentioned while wearing it she was “cohabiting the piece,” as the helmet was more than extension of her movement but a separate entity. The piece being strong and imaginative, as a performance it could have lasted a lot longer; pushing herself physically and finding rhythms, the artist could have reached a more uninhabited state allowing for something completely new to emerge. With platforms such as Clear Cut, young artists have this space to trial ideas and hopefully Rebecca’s inventive work continues to mature with this level of support.
Local dance artist Eleanor Brown bought her sea-themed piece Be Still. Wash over me anew. Her dancers were reminiscent of sirens whose long stillnesses were as captivating as their fluid, detailed movements. Eleanor has said that there is no narrative to the piece; however the calming soundscape of the waves crashing made it feel as if hours had passed and a story told. The audience were “invited to … allow the experience to wash over you,” and this permission allowed for the imagination to invoke images and memories only conjured by the splendid power of the sea. Nick Russell then brought up the tempo with two entertaining piano songs from his 2014 album Flight Of Birds. Hoping to tell a story through his lyrics, Nick clearly relished performing and sang to a genuine passion.
Finally, the organiser of the evening, Cardiff-based choreographer and teacher Sarah Vaughan-Jones, performed her piece Time Lapse. With the use of video projection and mixed media, she created a moving canvas at the feet of the audience crafting a hyper state in which time was the only dimension. Collaborating with music by German Bello and dancer Vicci Viles, Sarah offered a preview into the experimental nature of her work and her multifarious themes of interest. Cardiff is lucky to have such an explorative and ambitious artist back in the city and we can only look forward to what is to come.
words SINNEAD ALI