AUDIENCE REVIEW: errol white dance
Company:
errol white dance
Performance Date:
5th June 2009
Company
errol white dance
Show / Event Name
Three Works
Performance Date
5th June 2009
Venue / Location
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
Your Occupation:
Team Leader
Last time you moved your body:
Wednesday
Have you ever seen this company/ before?
Tell us a bit about your history with this group/performer?
I've seen Errol White before, not as a soloist / choreographer, but as part of Alan Greig's X-Factor Dance. I also experienced Errol as a teacher for once only but was impressed by his beautifully fluid plie exercises (to Crash Test Dummies' "mmm")
Why did you go to the show? What did you expect to see?
I went to the show hoping to get an artistic lift / escape from what had been a pretty awful week!! But I did go because I knew Errol to be both a powerful yet lyrical dancer and wanted to know how ho had progressed with his own company. From the company's fliers I looked forward to "a sophisticated and fascinating study of identity and human vulnerability through the vocabulary of the body". I was also looking forward to Tiago Cerqueria's specially scored soundscape.
What was your favorite moment(s)? What inspired you?
Without doubt the highlight was Errol's solo piece "Grace". The opening of frenzied movement from dark under a spotlight which rose and faded was punchy and exciting. Errol conveyed the emotions and concepts he intended admirably. He is an inspiration for the male dancer who normally in class conditions suffers fro lack of role models. The soundscape was electric at times unnerving with a strange repeated mewing noise which seemed to emanate somewhere within the audience.
Describe as plainly and as specifically as you can what you actually saw. We are going for description without judgement.
There is no need for complete sentences, phrases and word lists are fine. You can describe these elements or anything you can think of: the artists, the kinds of movement, the qualities of the movement, the use of the stage/space, the musicality/timing...
The first piece "An Incomplete View" was a trio for female dancers - dark dresses, black drapes, black floor, low key lighting, Movement went from a line to a triangle, from observed duos, to duo plus solo, mirroring across the stage. There were repeated moves - arm flung forward over head into contraction, arm flung round body into turn. Contact work was of the 'body part touches body part' variety. The music was neither was fitting but not overly inspiring. The theme seemed more abstract than interpretive.
The second piece 'Grace' was a solo for Errol White, dynamics changed, he used the stage well, moving from intraspection to pushing movement out. Music was well intrepreted. A thoroughly satisfying piece.
The final duet (the partner was not billed on the programme!) "I came to see you" seemed to provide a link between the other two pieces. It opened with the observer / dancer theme but in the second half moved into a powerful duo particularly Errol who seemed from a foetal postion on the floor to pull and swing his partner down into a spoon position (fluid and impressive).
Do any images, colors or feelings pop into your head when you think about this show?
Slightl depressing, black and grey, lows and highs. Disappointment then excitement.
Describe any or all of these elements: music, lighting, the venue. - How did they contribute (or not) to your enjoyment of this performance?
Music was great - talented composer. The lighting was at times just too flat, The Traverse is just fantastic for dance.
Would you like to see this performance / company again? Would you recommend it to a friend?
Why or why not?
I'd like to see more solo work from Errol and would certainly like to see the second piece again. Certainly recommend it to a friend.
What would you like to have seen more of? Less of?
I'd like to see the trio cut. It was nothing new to me and the choreographic devices were mundane. I'd like to see some use of lighting and colour to draw more focus to the dancers. (Interestingly they do in the publicity shots).
If you could, what would you ask the choreographer / dancers?
I'd like to ask Error how he works with the other dancers and how he thinks he could impose more of his personality into his choreography.
