In the middle of São Paulo Dance Company’s UK debut is a pas de deux, between the dancers Ammanda Rosa and Nielson Souza, that is the highlight of the whole evening. Sometimes it’s impossible to describe why a dancer is so good, what it is that elevates them above others, except that you watch them with wonder and everything seems so … right, somehow. Rosa especially, with her close-cropped hair and pliable strength, is in control of her instrument in a way that seemingly transcends the sweat and guts it takes to get this good. There’s no projected showmanship or ardent love story between the pair, but something natural and inevitable, like the forces of nature at work on their bodies: folding, stretching, torquing, through and around each other.
