Firsts - Programme One

Published Wednesday 21 November 2007 at 11:35 by Gavin Roebuck

The first programme features the innovative hip hop theatre of Jonzi D in an extract from the dynamic and explosive TAG… Just Writing My Name. This tale of a obsessive graffiti writer in search of acceptance uses five hoodies as performers who use a physical calligraphy to bring the writer’s world to life.

Sap Dance’s The Saturated Moment is a response in movement, sound and light to Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves. This solo, choreographed by Nigel Stewart, was performed with a concentrated commitment by Dominique Bulgin. The piece suggested that each person’s present moment is saturated by impressions of the wider world. A challenging novel and complex ideas to convey in movement.

The calm beauty of aerialist Ilona Jantti’s Piiri closed the first half. This solo sucessfully combined circus disciplines with contemporary dance exploring the movements and shapes that can be made in a circle.

The last piece was Tongue-Tied, a short opera about a couple whose son doesn’t speak to them. It is Rebecca Askew, Jeremy Avis and Robin Whitnell’s first theatrical piece. This trio create songs and soundscapes using their voices and live sampling, layering and looping.

With pre-show entertainment from juggler Rob Horsman and live gypsy music in the Linbury Foyer after each performance from Zig Quartet, it’s value for a fiver.