Duet Squared and more… Joëlle Pappas Projects, Old Fire Station Friday 4th March 2016 – Marcella Vigneri reviews

Enchantment, joyfulness, playfulness; hypnotic and powerfully evocative. These are the words that come to mind after coming out of Joëlle Pappas’ wonderfully assorted dance programme of works old and new Duet Squared (and more) at the Old Fire Station last Friday, 4^th March.

The evening consisted of 5 pieces, with as a prelude the short film Buried Memories from 2004 in which dancer Galina Kalicin danced a trail inspired by stones, bricks and steps through Brookes University’s Harcourt Hill campus on a sunny afternoon.   Tales without Words, set to Satie’s mysterious Trois morceaux en Forme de Poire played live by pianists Diana Hinds and Elizabeth Kreager, was a storming in of 31 young dancers onto the stage, drawing beautiful free lines across the space, some more evocative of a ‘togetherness ensemble’ than others, all accentuating an enchaînement of body movement. Joëlle’s unique ability to bring together young dancers – even those not yet technically sophisticated, but all invariably conveying a real feel of dancing joyfulness from within – never ceases to surprise me.

 

Anuradha Chaturvedi and Ségolène Tarte in Presence, Drishti Dance’s Aangika at The Old Fire Station 30th November 2013

A rich and thought provoking evening, Drishti Dance’s Aangika at the Old Fire Station on 30th November included the first public performance of Presence, in which  Kathak exponent Anuradha Chaturvedi and ballet dancer Ségolène Tarte came together in a partially improvised dialogue between venerable classical dance traditions.  Marcella Vigneri gives her impressions:

When I was first asked to write a review for this piece of dance work, I thought carefully about what to expect from such an original and in some regards daring choreographic experiment: two very different classical dance styles, incredibly demanding in practice and interpretation, each requiring very specific emphasis on both footwork tempi and the many possible developments of body extensions and lines.