If you love dance, catch Corali
Simon Jarrett sees some terrific dance talent inspired by leading choreographers
‘Empty theatre dream’, ‘Overlap’, ‘Origami Atoms’
Corali Dance Company
Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadlers Wells, London, 22 March
Corali is a London-based group of dancer-performers who have learning disabilities, and work with artist collaborators from a variety of artistic backgrounds. Their performance at this leading dance venue included three pieces, one of which arose from a collaboration with world-famous choreographer Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance Company.
The McGregor-inspired piece, Origami Atoms, was the highlight of a high-quality evening of contemporary dance. McGregor is fascinated by the intersection of art and science, dance and geometry, physical human movement and light and sound. The six dancers performed a beautifully complex piece, full of subtle connections with each other, the music, lighting and every part of the stage.They showed great solidarity as an ensemble but each also displayed their individual physicality to compelling effect. Dancers Paul Davidson and Katy Cracknell were particularly outstanding, both displaying effortless movement and timing.
This performance was a fitting offshoot of McGregor’s highly-acclaimed Atomos, which is currently touring to sell-out crowds across the country. Random Dance choreographers had developed the work in collaboration with the performers.
Mesmerising stage presence
The talented Housni Hassan performed an exquisite solo, Overlap. He has mesmerising stage presence, that easily recognisable but hard-to-define quality of the best dancers. The slowness of the movement in this absorbing piece required great feats of balance, control and discipline, and he achieved them throughout. His facial expressions connected perfectly with his movement, which resulted in a beautifully told dance story.
The programme began with Empty Theatre Dream, a multi-media performance using animation, the spoken word and live music as well as dance. The piece had been developed by the dancers themselves, working from their own dreams. Their dreamlike representations included stage fright, swimming under a warm African sky and a gliding high-society dance complete with glass of champagne. Like all good dreams, light comedy mixed with dark, menacing strangeness to produce a compelling performance.
If you love dance catch Corali. You will quickly become a fan. If you’re not sure about dance try catching them anyway. The company is nurturing some terrific talent, and there is nothing like seeing talented people do what they do – you may be converted.
For more information about Corali Dance Company http://www.corali.org.uk/
