Launched 45 years ago, Dance Umbrella festival has reached middle age, but there is nothing staid or middle-of-the-road about its programming under current director Freddie Opoku-Addaie. The month-long London-wide fest features an eclectic batch of UK premieres by international artists you haven’t heard of, plus local talent from a pan-London hip-hop battle to naked Taiwanese performance art. And that’s just the opening weekend.
Change Tempo is the first show: a double-bill of artists new to the UK, and a surprisingly arresting solo from Taiwan’s Su PinWen. Su uses he/they pronouns, but the body that strips bare in front of us appears female. There’s a world of gender expectations to explore but the piece, Girl’s Notes, also reads as a simple feminist statement.
