In ballet, the dancers are the stars. A lot of people will book their tickets because they want to see a particular dancer’s interpretation of a classical role. But in contemporary dance, their presence has tended to be more anonymous, putting their bodies at the service of the work.
One of the joys of this past week has been seeing the personalities of contemporary dancers emerging from behind the steps. In Acosta Danza, the Havana-based company founded in 2015 by Carlos Acosta, the dancers are never less than dazzling, whatever the choreography they perform. Perhaps it’s because Acosta himself was such a luminary that his eye is caught by artists who can communicate something of themselves as they move, and whose energy and skill illuminates everything they do.
The opening work of Spectrum, a new mixed bill, is full of excitement and promise. In Performance, Micaela Taylor, a rising American choreographer, raises the question of what it is to perform, weaving choreography of propulsive energy and weighted pauses, marked by distinctive moves – little juts of the chin and wiggles of the shoulders; a duet where one dancer crouches in front of the other. It’s questioning, dynamic and riveting.
In Faun, Zeleidy Crespo and Alejandro Silva bring new sexiness to Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s duet, her upwards grace contrasting with his weighted groundedness as they wind their bodies into one another. Laura Rodriguez and Mario Sergio Elías lend classical poise to another duet, Nosotros, by Beatriz Garcia and Raul Reinoso, expanding with longing. The whole programme is distinguished by such contrasts. Portal by Juanjo Arqués sets rhythmic group dances against thoughtful solos, lit by torch beam; Goyo Montero’s Alrededor No Hay Nada places the company in a spotlit chorus line, their sharp movements propelled by poems by Joaquín Sabina that seem to muse on life and relationships. (No translation is provided.)
Despite its shifts in mood, Spectrum feels like a celebration. These are terrific dancers, giving their all. By the close, you feel you see beyond their strength, suppleness and smiles to a hint of who they are. The disappointment of How Did We Get Here? at Sadler’s Wells is that it’s a work about knowing that remains curiously opaque.
Melanie Chisholm, better known as Mel C or Sporty Spice, is the lodestar here, bringing in the crowds as she turns contemporary dancer in a new work by Julie Cunningham, alongside the choreographer and Harry Alexander. The piece, performed in the round, with most of the audience seated on stage around a black, mirroring surface, is introspective and detailed. It begins with the trio clasping their own hands and looking up to the ceiling to Nina Simone’s version of Stars, and that contemplative sense persists.
Chisholm holds her own against Cunningham and Alexander, both exceptional dancers who have always stood out in any group in which they have performed, but the tone is uniform even when the steps are different. What’s moving about the piece, however, is the sense of friendship and warmth the dancers convey, moving back into a circle, hugging each other. It needs more work, but there’s a nugget of truthfulness at its heart that makes it uplifting.
Star ratings (out of five)
Acosta Danza ★★★★
How Did We Get Here? ★★★
• Acosta Danza: Spectrum is at the Royal Opera House, London, until 30 January
• Julie Cunningham & Company: How Did We Get Here? is at Sadler’s Wells, London, until 29 January
