Dracula @ Contact, 10.10.14

With Halloween almost here and a new film version recently released Dracula is currently in the public consciousness. What better time, then, for a new tour of The Mark Bruce Company's adaptation, a dance performance that follows Bram Stoker's story but throws in a few original ideas to keep the whole thing fresh.

For those unfamiliar, Stoker's Dracula is split neatly in two. First, the hero Jonathan (performed here by Wayne Parsons) travels to Transylvania to help the Count purchase of a new home in England. Unaware of his host's evil intentions Jonathan is trapped for a time in his mansion, eventually making his escape. Meanwhile the Count sales to England to take up his new residence and spread an army of the undead. In the second half our hero and the count each try to ensnare the other, building to a final confrontation between good and evil.

Not bound by one particular style or approach, choreographer Mark Bruce has the freedom to pick and choose from the entire dance cannon, matching technique to mood. For example, in a love scene he borrows from ballet, the perfect approach to illustrate the first flowering of affection. Later on, when Dracula is trying to pull the wool over Jonathan's eyes, a vaudeville tap is adapted, its slapstick silliness succinctly showing the character's intentions. Each of these is then stitched into a whole that hangs together, an impressive feat indeed. The dancers delivered on the promise of these ideas, showing great versatility and characterisation in doing so. Jonathan Goddard in particular stood out as a muscular and menacing Dracula, displaying both his human and animalistic elements.

Mood is very important in a piece such as this; it is the otherworldly, ungodly essence of Dracula that is so disturbing, and this has to be conveyed in the staging, lighting and sound as well as through movement. The company achieved this by using unusual lighting angles, keeping much of the stage in shadow, and by building a set that gives an impression of darkness and depth. The musical score also worked very well, with gothic classical mixing with eastern european strings. The production sticks closely to the original story, and - so long as you have read the book - is fairly easy to follow. However, it could be tricky for someone unfamiliar with the plot, so I would recommend doing a bit of research in advance of seeing the show.

This dance version of Dracula has drama, diversity and depth, and is a great evening out for first-timers and old-hands alike. If you get the chance go and see it for yourself, and prepare to be scared.

Words: Andrew Anderson

Images: Courtesy of The Mark Bruce Company

Rapunzel @ Lowry Theatre, 27.04.14

balletLORENT's portrayal of Rapunzel was a lot darker than I remember from my days spent reading fairytales. One of the Brothers Grimm tales, it concerns the stolen child who is locked in a tower with hair long enough to be used as a rope ladder and, like all good fairy tales, results in a happy ending where Rapunzel is married to her prince and re-united with her family.

The production played at the Lowry Theatre for just two days – 26th and 27th April. In the glorious opening scene, the stage is filled with children of school age and younger, even babes in arms, to reinforce the element of children and family that runs through the whole production. This charming vignette led us to the story's darker themes.

Straight away, the gritty life truths of the pain and suffering of infertility, combined with the loss of a child in any situation, were portrayed effectively in dance and expression. The production did not shy away from these factors no matter how uncomfortable they made you feel. You could almost taste the despondency felt by the Wife character, such was her power.

The story progresses and another of the main characters, the Witch, made many an appearance, as the narrative demands. But the use of a pair of roller skates in one scene means that she never appeared malevolent. Appearing slowly on the stage with her flowing, hooped skirts hiding the skates, she glided in menacingly from nowhere to snatch the baby Rapunzel, leaving broken and grieving parents (Mariusz Raczynski and Debbi Purtill) prostrate on the floor. However, the narrative continued to its much happier and fulfilling conclusion.

It is at this point that special mention should be given to other areas of the production. Costumes were beautifully designed by Michelle Clapton, who has worked on costumes for TV's Game of Thrones. The set, designed by Phil Eddolls, was stark but dominated by magnificent ironwork erections that moved as the narrative dictated. It is to be commended that cast members continually mounted and dismounted these frameworks with perfect grace and athleticism. Bringing in literary greatness, the scenario was written by Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate, and the story was comfortingly narrated by Manchester's very own Lesley Sharp.

balletLORENT's productions have previously been cited by The List as “...dance theatre that manages to engage both your heart and your head”. Given that the production did not avoid the dark themes of childlessness and abduction and pitched these against the joy and light-heartedness of the final reunion, I would agree with that.

Words: Una Cottrell
Photos 1 and 2: Bill Cooper (courtesy of The Lowry)
Photo 3: courtesy of balletLORENT

Rapunzel continues its tour at the end of May in Warwick, followed by Edinburgh in September. For information visit the balletLORENT website here.

Broken @ The Lowry, 28.01.14

We live our lives surrounded by gadgets and gizmos, engaging with the world through a laptop or a lens. We cocoon ourselves in synthetic fabrics and concrete houses, kept separate from nature while eating our processed dinners. But although we live in this mechanised and man-made world our bodies and spirit are anything but: we are alive, organic and part of an endless flowing continuum of life. It is this idea that Motionhouse's Broken at the Lowry explored so successfully as the dancers documented the struggles, trials and triumphs of modern humans and the Earth we are born from.

Motionhouse have become known for their highly physical shows that mix multiple mediums and Broken was no different; this was not a dance performance accompanied by film and music but a blend of all three, each element inseparable from the others. When dancers would reach for branches in the sky, unseen hands would send forth poles perfectly timed to greet their grasp. When the performers dived through the permeable film screen a cinematic splash would ripple outward in sympathy. The energy, expression and timing of the dancers was exemplary, leaving one to wonder at how they managed to sustain such levels for over an hour.

Broken does not follow a narrative structure, but rather paints abstract images through which the overall theme becomes apparent. The central motif is that of the earth and our relationship with it, be that as giver of life, as a source of mineral wealth or as bringer of destruction. The dancers flowed together, their bodies forming rigid rocks and disparate clouds with equal ease. Arms jutted out like mineral seams, fingers and hands reached upwards to become branches blooming forth from the soil, while ethereal beings edged onto the stage, like the ghosts of mother earth herself. As the piece ended in the present day our precarious place was illustrated by the power of an earthquake that shook all that had been made down into dust.

I normally find it quite easy to be concise in a review, but with Broken there is so much to say that it is a struggle. Of course that is the point of dance - it says complex, intricate and beautiful things in a way that words simply cannot. Praise must go to artistic director Kevin Finnan for assembling and directing such a strong team and harnessing their talents into this unified piece. Broken is a magnificent synthesis of many disciplines, accessible for those unfamiliar with dance and, above all, a moving and fun experience.

Words: Andrew Anderson

Images: Chris Nash

White Flag @ Green Room, Thursday 4th March, 2010

March 2010 saw the second year of the Turn dance platform and in doing so brought together 20 of the Northwest’s finest dancers, choreographers and installations filling every available space within Greenroom. One of the 20 artists will be chosen for the Turn Prize and the opportunity to expand and show a full piece as part of Greenroom’s next season.

Tonight is White Flag, made up of dancers and choreographers Mancunian Jane McLean, Portuguese Vanessa Abreu and composer Sam Salem from Derby. They have been working together for just over 18 months and performed their debut work ‘Disregarding Gaze’ on the opening night of this year’s Turn event.

The dance piece is entirely engaging from start to finish. The performance takes place in a room little smaller than a squash court. Spectators are invited in whilst Jane dances in silence by herself in the dark, the only light coming from a laptop which shines on Sam’s face and the open door as the audience enter and settle jostling for a viewing point from the sides of the room. Once that door is closed the music begins and Sam starts ‘diffusing’, a process where the sounds and tones are pushed around the room though any combination of eight speakers strategically located in the extremities of the performance space.


A small 40w light illuminates Jane and her movements for the first time, but little else. As the music continues, floor lights turn on in time with the music, Jane stops and you can see Vanessa fully as she dances by herself. As the contemporary piece proceeds, both Vanessa and Jane display a huge variety of skills, at times balletic and on occasion acrobatic. They interact with each other both as discrete bodies but now and again in contact with jumps, catches and strikes in the air, on their feet and on the floor, arranged in time with the music and lighting changes. ‘Disregarding Gaze’ finishes with both dancers together on the floor; the room falls silent and is plunged into darkness, waiting for the audience to vacate.

The concept for ‘Disregarding Gaze’ was developed from Sam’s idea about modern day society and the perverse relationship we have with being watched. “We all crave privacy but at the same time are exhibitionists” says Sam. “I was thinking about how it’s beautiful in a way that big cities may have thousands of CCTV cameras linking to rooms full of screens but there’s probably just some guy sitting there reading a newspaper”.

The idea of “watching but not seeing” became the foundation for the whole dance collaboration. Composer Sam, who is coming to the end of his PhD in Musical Composition, works by going out and recording the sounds of the city and making pieces from it. The music and the melodies for ‘Disregarding Gaze’ come from voices and buskers and sounds captured on the streets.

Sam and Jane started White Flag over a year and a half ago with Vanessa joining them after a year. Wanting to achieve a true collaboration between and the music and movement Sam and Jane used to meet in Manchester, which was difficult because at the time Jane had been working in and studying at Laban Dance Centre for contemporary dance in London. Traditionally either the composition or the choreography in a dance piece takes precedence. “In the early stages, retrospectively we were actually learning what the other part does,” says Sam “we were developing the vocabulary for the piece together.”

The music was finished a few months prior to the completion of the choreography but essentially isn’t complete until the performance on the night as Sam diffuses the sounds around the room in real time. “When Sam finished and I started I did get caught up in dancing to the music” explains Jane “but realised that it’s not about that so went back to the original concept of ‘Disregarding Gaze’ and we came up with something else before coming back to the music.”

Vanessa, who has been studying dance for 13 years, including 6 years at Laban where her and Jane met, proved to be a good influence on the piece and its concept in particular. “My choreographic process is such that the movement is the last thing that I think of. I have an idea about the atmosphere that I want to create so I think about all of the sounds, textures and energy that need to exist in order to create it.”

Jane talked about how they tied it all together at the end. “When we got Sam’s music it was quite difficult as it’s very cinematic, if you close your eyes you can see it, it’s amazing! We were concerned about how we were going to fit with it and the resulting piece being too much. We found a way to work with it. Hopefully it works; hopefully we’re not too much!”

Words: Kobestarr
Image: Neil Shearer