You couldn’t get further from Spice Up Your Life than this. Former Spice Girl Mel C makes her contemporary dance debut in a low-key, slow-burn leftfield trio. It’s the work of choreographer Jules Cunningham, devised with Chisholm (to give Melanie her full name) and dancer Harry Alexander.
Can Chisholm hold her own against these two very experienced dancers? Yes, she can. Always one of the stronger dancers in the Spice Girls, she trained in ballet in childhood. She has a performer’s instinct: chin lifted, elegant poise, steps cleanly finessed. There’s a strength in her presence. This is not virtuoso dancing, but it’s exacting in its geometric lines and balances. Cunningham has designed the dance to make everyone look good. Just as well since they’re all so exposed. Half the audience is on stage, around three sides of the dancefloor, the rest at the front of the auditorium, a closeup view on the unitard-clad bodies.
