Daring Dance Doesn't Deliver
An enchanting performance with infectious rhythms but as InSITE editor Amy Nicholass found out it could’ve been so much more…
I was totally inspired by the exotic, boundary pushing, international theatre performance of Anurekha Ghosh and Company at the Courtyard.
Kathak dance from India, Flamenco from Spain, contemporary dance, ballet, and martial arts styles were mixed with projected films and live musicians to create a captivating performance of intensity and exuberance.
The bare foot dancers impressed me because their fast, complex foot rhythms sounded as loud as if they were wearing hard soled shoes. Anurekha’s extraordinary use of hand movements gave her enough expressive power to appear as if she were three dancers. Without hysterical drama, she beautifully communicated mischief and her intoxication with life in a solo called ‘Bliss’.
A male dancer, in his solo about the experience of true love, used flirty facial gestures and playfully sensual body movements to good affect and easily convinced me he was besotted. It didn’t hurt that he was cute too!
What slightly distracted and disappointed me was the use of pre-recorded ‘naff eighties psychedelic Indian music’ and ‘warm up clothes’ as costumes in one of the dances which didn’t do justice to the magic that was happening on stage.
If you get a kick out of dance or live music from far away lands I urge you to keep your eyes peeled for this company in the future. Don’t ever complain that Hereford is always conservative and dull as from time to time little jems like this crop up and it’s up to you not to miss them!
Want to find out more? Check out Amy’s interview with Anureka herself by clicking on the graphic below:
Links:
Anurekha Ghosh and Company
The Courtyard Hereford
BBC Blast Dance
