Oxford Dance Writers

Acosta Danza presented four works to a large and enthusiastic audience at Sadler’s Wells last night. The evening opened with Raúl Reinoso’s Satori, a piece that brought together movement, music, costumes and lighting with strong dramatic effect, unifying them in the dance. The visual impact was powerful right from the start, as spotlights picked out dancers, male and female, surrounded by huge circular skirts that spread around them on the stage. Billowing cloth created the illusion of a mountainous landscape viewed from above, as a dancer bourréed on pointe from side to side, facing the audience, her arms extended, like a hovering bird. (more…)

Professor Richard Beacham’s account of the rediscovery and re-generation of Hellerau as the European Centre for the Arts was both romantic and inspiring. Founded by Karl Schmidt and Wolf Dohrn in 1909 as a garden suburb of Dresden, Hellerau was an ideological attempt to create a community that would live and work in social equality and harmony in an idyllic setting. Hellerau became the home of an Institute and Festspielhaus that drew together the ideas and practice of the progressive innovators , and has been cited as the birthplace of modern theatre. Experimental work at Hellerau embodied theories in which architecture was subservient to rhythm, light created space, and the human body became the medium of transmission between dramatist and audience. These works of living art influenced dance, theatre, music and design in ways that are visible not only on stage but also in our urban surroundings today. (more…)

A fascinating opportunity at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building to see dance and story telling from a venerable tradition in a new international collaboration.  Oxford based composer/producer Sebastian Reynolds and Neon Dance Director Adrienne Hart collaborate with award winning Thai dance artist Pichet Klunchun to retell the story of Mahajanaka Jataka; one of the oldest surviving folk tales in the world.  Bringing together eastern and western dance and music performance traditions, this enchanting production fuses ancient and modern with animated scenes from Bristol’s Sun & Moon Studios.

Informed by research trips to Bangkok to explore Jataka mythology and Buddhism in contemporary Thailand, and subsequent studio time in the UK, Mahajanaka Dance Drama previewed at Wiltshire Music Centre with an excerpt presented as part of the sold out Neon Dance Wild Card at Sadler’s Wells in 2018.

Performance:  Wednesday, 13th November, 7.30pm; pre-show talk with Dr Sarah Shaw 7.00pm

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