ARENA: RSAMD CPP2 Students 24th June 2011

ARENA: an explicit expose of process, generated by the body and from the practice and study of movement.

As with each piece from the contemporary performance practice students of the RSAMD, I had no idea what was in store as I entered the Chandler Studio Theatre. Arranged in the centre of the floor, the performers explored the space around them, keeping in contact with the floor and transferring weight slowly between themselves.

A fun-filled, exciting performance piece followed, including exciting extracts of dance, physical theatre, art, parkour and acrobalance. I was inspired by CPP2's use of contact and improvisation and enjoyed seeing the progress of these amazing young artists from their performance the previous year. Particularly, duets between Aby Watson and Kim Donohoe, Emma Nutland and Amy McLahlan Sayer stand out for me, their strength and beauty stealing my attention from everything else that was happening in the space. I must commend Ellie Dubois and David Banks on their work with contact and parkour. The control in their movements had me holding my breath, I was completely captivated.

CPP students are more than the much talked-about 'triple threat'...they use voice, dance, physical theatre, parkour, yoga, contact, acting, improvisation, art and more to create innovative relevant performances that everyone could relate to on some level. They capture the essence of every individual, personality and natural charisma oozes from every performer.

Congratulations on a fantastic end of year show CPP2. Your performances are real, engaging and inspiring.

Richard Alston Theatre Royal 26th May 2011

This was the second time I had seen the Richard Alston Dance Company on stage at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and this time I took my mum with me.

As expected, the music really made the dance, starting with 4 movements from Prokofiev's 6th Piano Sonata. 'Out of the Strong' featured most of the company and lead me through different emotions, from anger to apathy, joy and excitement. Each movement was different and the dancers' movements expressed every feeling with a fabulous synchronicity during the company piece.

'Lie of the Land' 's movement to Rorem's 4th String Quartet was a lovely contrast to the first piece, sweet and sassy with lots of surprise encounters between dancers, keeping me on my toes and not knowing who to watch next.

Finally 'Roughcut' ended this diverse show, a lovely selection for the final piece by the Theatre Royal. With a wealth of dancers, increased stage size and subtle lighting, I felt like I was a fly on the wall of a theatre, getting a sneak-peek of a private movement conversation or rehearsal. The exuberance of the dancers portrayed the 'young performers' roles perfectly, as Alston describes in the programme as youthful and articulate raw talent.

Richard Alston filled the theatre with promise and hope for the future, giving off an ideally accessible form of contemporary dance that I'm sure everyone could relate to.

STOMP!

Wow! After seeing Strictly Tap Dance Fever, Tap Dogs and now Stomp, I really have had the best year at the theatre!

Stomp was a fast=paced, energetic 1 hour 40 minute straight-through show. The musicality of each performer was used to the highest level and the characters developed during each section were intriguing and funny.

My favourite sequence was the newspapers. The ways they were used to create sound and rhythm was inventive and original, each new sequence delivered with astounding accuracy.

The cast looked at all time like they were having the time of their lives, and so they should! I would kill to perform in this show!

This is definitely a show for all the family and I'm not one to use that phrase! Usually it describes shows for me that are for couples with children but Stomp was honestly the most fun performance I have seen in a long time, enjoyed by the small child in front of me as much as the elderly couple behind.

I am feeling very spoiled after a very rhythmical 2010 so far!

Tap Dance Fever, Theatre Royal

When my mum bought me tickets for this show for my birthday I was over the moon! Let’s just get one thing straight before I tell you about this show, I LOVE TAP DANCING!!!

Tap Dance Fever took me through the art of rhythmic dance from the era of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers right up to the newer body-percussive styles of Stomp and Tap Dogs.

Due to my dance experience and slightly crazy obsession with tap I was going to be a fairly difficult audience member to please! Initially I struggled to ignore the dodgy click tracks and unconvincing miming from the chorus and not least the terrible combinations of jazz-style tap shoes and skirts (very unflattering on the legs)! I felt disappointed in the costumes for scenes from 42nd Street where they didn’t always co-ordinate through the chorus members and just didn’t have quite enough sparkle!!!

By the end of the first half, all of my criticisms for costumes and backing tracks were well and truly forgotten and I was totally won over by the abilities of each and every member of the cast. When they performed in unison, it sounded like there was only one dancer on the stage, a tell-tale sign of perfect timing and spot-on rhythms.

The main female singer in the cast bared an uncanny vocal resemblance to Christina Aguilera, which was shown off when the girls of the company performed a fabulous cover of “Candy Man”. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a programme available for this show so I can’t name all of my favourites!

The interaction between the dancers was amazing, it was clear that they were having the time of their lives and so was the audience. The energy and spirit held right to the very end of what must have been an exhausting performance!

The standing ovation during the final piece summed up the performance. Tap Dance Fever was an outstanding, fast paced and invigorating show.

They had rhythm, who could ask for anything more?!!!

Richard Alston, Theatre Royal, Glasgow

I was so excited to have got a 2 for 1 offer on tickets plus free pre-show talk with Richard Alston at the Theatre Royal. I hadn’t seen any of his work before but had heard really good things and knew he was the artistic director at The Place in London too, so he must be good?!!!

I took my boyfriend and we went to the pre-show talk which was very educational for me in terms of Alston’s choreographic processes. He appealed to my other half too as a musician due to most of his ideas and decisions for movement being influenced by music.

When it came to the performance itself, however, I have to admit I was slightly disappointed and don’t really have much to say. One more mature female dancer stood out as excellent amongst a fairly un-expressive company. I just didn’t “feel” the pieces shown, maybe I wasn’t in the right move or maybe the pre-show talk left me with too high expectations.

The second piece I found highly enjoyable in terms of movement and the lighting effects to create the “light through a window” were magical. Unfortunately, the lighting was more convincing than what Alston had described earlier as an intense emotional connection between man and woman. The dancers faces were still and I didn’t feel connected to the movement, although the choreography was beautifully subtle with bursts of light in amongst modest shade.

I will go and see more pieces by Richard Alston as I believe that he must have more in his repertoire that would suit my tastes more. Would I go to another pre-show talk? I’m not sure; I think that this one made me enjoy the performance less, what do you think?