OH, that Phoenix could have had more than four nights in their home city of Leeds.
Of course, a Phoenix must spread its wings, but you should nourish those at home too, and the only other chance to see Particle Velocity this season within God’s Own Country is at the Barnsley Civic on March 22. Go.
This is Sharon Watson’s most exhilarating show since taking the artistic director’s reins in May 2009, the programme as diverse as the dancers that make up the latest company.
Richard Alston’s first work for Phoenix, All Alight, was the headline grabber pre-show and duly had pole position, an elegant and beautiful piece for seven dancers set to Ravel’s Sonata For Violin and Cello, performed live by Psappha, whose presence added to its theatricality.
Contrast was immediate in another Phoenix debut: Jose Agudo’s ritualistic solo work, Ki, a Genghis Khan-inspired journey from boyhood to legendary status in ferocious dance, performed with mesmeric elasticity by Josh Willie.
Of course dance is physical, but gosh, when it is as physical as in Douglas Thorpe’s Tender Crazy Love, it makes you feel “ouch” as a couple goes to the extremes of an intense, destructive relationship. You can hear the collisions, feel the heat, count the bruises.
Everything but the kitchen sink went into Repetition Of Change, Sharon Watson’s new ensemble piece rooted in the complexities of DNA. Set to Kenneth Hesketh’s jagged new score, it opened with a light show and huge swathes of material working dazzlingly in tandem with the dancers before taking on an ever more intricate form that hotly pursued but never matched its opening thrills.
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