On Wednesday night, ACE Dance and Music presented a two-part programme of original work; TNBT – The Night Before Tomorrow by Serge Aimé Coulibaly, and Mana – The Power Within, by Vincent Mantsoe and Gail Parmel. In TNBT artificial grass, benches and a table, alongside the seven dancers (five women and two men) dressed in casual hot-weather street clothes, suggested an outdoor scene. The company burst across the stage to Yvan Talbot’s score with a blistering energy; leaping, spinning, falling, they seemed driven by a furious rage against each other and against the audience. Their ferocity felt like an assault as they vented their anger, silently mouthing words that we could not hear, challenging each other, yet strangely dissociated from one another, pursuing their own trajectories as they moved between different formations, brief duets and solos. There was a passing feeling of more intimate connection between the guest performers Thabang Motaung and Mthoko Mkhwanazi, who introduced a sense of wit in a dance in which they interacted moving with fluidity and precision, but the overall impression was one of isolation. When Mirabel Huang-Smith danced on the table, although she was surrounded by the company, strobe lighting seemed to capture her movement in a series of stills, as if she was being observed by outsiders.

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