It’s rare to see pure jazz dance on stage in the UK, even in its natural home of musical theatre, where contemporary, street and commercial styles have encroached. And it’s impressive that choreographer Dollie Henry and musical director Paul Jenkins have kept the clear labour of love that is Body of People Jazz Theatre Company (BOP) alive since 1996, dedicated to jazz performance and education.
Jazz is a very open sort of dance, made of bright, clean angles, arms stretched out wide, kicks up high. It’s a faces-forward, look-you-in-the-eyes dance. We’re giving this to you, it says – open hearted too, and emotionally literal (a scene here with a painter and his muse reminds you of a vignette on Strictly). There are plenty of people who find the farther reaches of contemporary dance baffling and there’s a place for this more straight-ahead style.
The BOP dancers are breezy and well rehearsed with a sense of togetherness, and it’s thoughtfully put together (the costumes could do with a bit more budget, but couldn’t we all?). The first half is a whiz through some of BOP’s repertoire – best when it touches on jazz’s African roots, or throws in a bit of Maya Angelou – and the second half a tribute to Miles Davis.
The choreography is polite and poised. But when the first muted trumpet note is teased out, bristling against the air, you can’t help but think: where’s that same sense of resistance in the bodies on stage? A voiceover talks of Davis’s haunting and vulnerable sound. Where’s the vulnerability in these bodies? Or for that matter, the cool, the melancholy, the grit, the groove – all things you can hear in the music.
Two things make this show: the live band, playing So What and Milestones and The Man I Love, and the dancer Nafisah Baba, new to the company. Baba won the BBC Young Dancer competition in 2017 and has since performed in some major shows (plus a Beyoncé video).
She’s a strong technician, her movement fine and articulate but steeped in feeling; she makes simplicity sing. The two men in the cast, Oraine Frater and Bafana Matea, also bring juice to their dancing and deserve a mention. It’s an evening that wins on heart but doesn’t entirely convince that jazz dance is a vital, current dance form.
