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Sadler's Wells Sampled

Members - Louise Kelsey, 27th January 09

Performance: 24 & 25 Jan 09

Sadler’s Wells had a very different feel on Saturday night. With live installations in the foyers and a charged atmosphere in the auditorium, everyone was prepared for an assorted and exciting evening. Sadler’s Wells Sampled, now in its third year of offering a wide variety of performance samples portraying a multitude of dance styles, proved how diverse the dance culture is across the globe. From flamenco, to ballet, to hip-hop, the night had something for everyone, and was a fantastic opportunity to flavour new styles.

The night’s performance opened with a display of Flamenco by Rojas & Rodriguez. The dancers’ intricate steps carried them through artistic formations, led by the powerful music that richly complemented the complex rhythms driving the piece. When the curtain rose to Tchaikovsky’s score, it was to a magical scene in which Michele Wiles and David Hallberg from American Ballet Theatre gracefully delivered the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake.

To close the first part of the night’s performances Flying Steps presented B-Boy 4 Life, a group of seven specialising in urban dance forms. The audience showed their appreciation for the vibrant and energetic cast, particularly for the impressive tricks displayed by this talented group.

The interval allowed for an exploration of the installations, the most eye catching being Brian Lobel’s Hold My Hand and We’re Halfway There in which, beneath his starry headphones, he energetically performed to musicals on the television screen he was connected to, not dissimilar to how a child would dance along to their favourite part of a film. Other of the foyer events included a dance machine, Matt Delbridge’s The Pedestrian Patch Project, seeking to influence unusual pedestrian behaviour, and of

Tanya Syed’s presentation of two cameos of ritual dance projected into the circular cinema of a hat box called Luminous Objects. Back in the auditorium, the seats were filling for part two of the night’s performances. Opening with a solo choreographed by Russell Maliphant, Two, created for and performed by Dana Fouras showed Fouras confined to a box of light for the whole piece. As a result the piece seemed quite limited, restricting her movement to a small patch of stage, however the piece gradually built up from silence to become a powerfully dynamic performance. Yet again the curtain rose to the sound of Tchaikovsky, but for a different interpretation of the traditional Swan Lake performed earlier. Created by Matthew Bourne, the beautifully crafted Swan and Prince duet, delivered by Richard Winsor and Aaron Sillis was playful and emotive which they made appear effortless. Finally a jaw dropping finish to the night by Les 7 doights de la main, showing extracts of circus tricks from Traces. The cast revealing their many talents enchanted the audience with their daring skills, superbly closing the evening’s events.

Sadler’s Wells proved that there truly is something for everyone to enjoy in dance. The accessibility of the show was fabulous and it was great to be part of such a terrific audience.

Press - Debra Craine, Times, 27th January 09

Performance: 24 & 25 Jan 09

*** ‘The extraordinary B-Boy crew Flying Steps, from Berlin, flew around the stage in a dizzying array of breakdancing feats that revealed superhuman strength and an exuberant derring-do. They return in May for the Breakin' Convention hip-hop festival - they are too good to miss.’

Press - Judith Mackrell, Guardian, 26th January 09

Performance: 24 & 25 Jan 09

**** ‘For all its thrills, this Sampled programme never lost sight of pure dance, and completing the programme was Dana Fouras, performing Russell Maliphant's Two. ….  It was a feat of divine concentration which raised cheers almost as loud as those for the death-defying circus skills.’

londondance.com - Mary Kate Connolly

Performance: 24 & 25 Jan 09

Sat 24 Jan 09
Even as the curtain rose and the gutsy flamenco stamps of performers Rojas and Rodríguez resounded through the darkness, the babble and murmur of an excited throng still rippled through the packed auditorium of Sadler’s Wells. In defiance of weather and financial crises alike, this was unmistakably a party atmosphere. The showcase event offered a taster of the wares on offer at Sadler’s Wells in the upcoming spring season with tickets a credit crunching £10, or just £5 to stand. 
 
Performers thus twirled on high heels (flamenco duo Rojas and Rodríguez), their own heads (hip hop group B-Boy 4 Life), pointe shoes (American Ballet Theatre), and inside hoops (circus company Les 7 doigts de la main). There was a chance to see the iconic White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake, performed initially in its traditional guise by American Ballet Theatre, and contrasted pleasingly in the second half by Matthew Bourne’s male duo. Silhouetted in pale yellow light, Dana Fouras gave a haunting performance of Two, the solo created for her by Russell Maliphant. Beginning with slow precise articulations of her upper body, the movement gradually accelerated in rhythm and speed until Fouras herself became disembodied; her flailing limbs the only discernable trace of her, amid the gloom.
 
Be it the eye and body popping stunts of B-Boy 4 Life, or the speed and passion of Rojas and Rodríguez, the defining qualities of all performers on the bill was excellence and drama in their respective art forms. Sampled gave the audience an opportunity not only to see their favourite performers at a discount price, but perhaps more crucially, an opportunity to appreciate performers whom they wouldn’t normally go to see. In addition to the festive atmosphere in the auditorium, the party spilled out into every crevice of the building, with installations, a dance machine and a DJ entertaining the masses during the interval. Workshops and participatory events are taking place across the whole Sampled weekend, giving theatre goers the chance to physically explore the dance which they have witnessed from their seats.
 
If the main aim of Sampled is to demonstrate unabashedly not only the range of dance on offer at Sadler’s Wells, but also the fact that dance is diverse, inclusive (or rather that it doesn’t have to be exclusive), and frankly, cool then it succeeded with fun and flair on Saturday’s freezing January night.

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