Shocking, illuminating, poignant, and triumphant, Empower in Motion is unbeatable ballet. Fundraising for Children Today, this informal gala presents itself without ostentation but packs an overpowering punch. Featuring ten acts over the course of two hours, the strength and diversity of its featured dancers never fails to captivate for even a minute. The program is contextualized by video introductions to each act describing the work done by Children Today and celebrating the inclusive dance efforts made by the event’s various other partners. Host, Grace Spence Green, gives an invigorating preamble to the procession of performances each of which awes in turn.
The evening starts strong with a seamless performance by Joseph Powell-Main and Hannah Rudd excerpted from The Royal Ballet’s Sleepwalker. Lit dramatically and undistractingly dressed in plain blacks, these two competent dancers glide and gravitate around their center, counterweighting each other with a tension palpable, and thrilling, to the audience. Powell-Main’s confidence and control especially enthralls audiences here, and in his later solo and self-choreographed piece, “Passionately Defiant,” which is set to an orchestral arrangement of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” and backlit with an intense red hue at times difficult to face head on.
The very contemporary feeling, digital graphic and sonic design of these pieces is taken to another level in Propel Dance’s offering which lays a dubstep soundtrack on Rebecca Fowler’s rendition of Snow Queen. Fowler dominates the stage with an imperious majesty and camp sensibility shimmering in a dramatic suit and headdress straddling the line between ballet’s aesthetic tradition and innovation.
The Royal Ballet School and English National Ballet provide two pitch perfect duets in “Ode to a Lost Love” choreographed by Maia Rose Roberts and an excerpt from Giselle choreographed by Mary Skeaping. The younger performers particularly impress in an emotionally stirring, gorgeous, and tremblingly raw display, swathed in white and peach tones and brimming with warmth. Choice of music, venue, performers, and choreography harmonize perfectly here. Another pair of young performers from Parable Dance and National Youth Ballet All In!, perform a conventionally costumed rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet with remarkable sensitivity and grace, making something so old and traditional seem so new and relevant in their unflinching commitment to its sentimentality. “Reunion” performed by Denecia Allen and Alice Bellini also has a sweetness to it, rare and magical in performers of any age or era.
The world premiere of collaborative work, The Owl Falls is staggeringly brilliant and closes the first act with a resounding bang. The technical precision of Daniil Simkin, also seen in the second act’s audacious finale number, is here matched perfectly with the technical capabilities of the venue, forcing both to rise to a hitherto unexpressed standard. Jangly techno music by Anna Meredith and bizarre Op Art harlequin costumes by Arthur Arbesser and Søren Johannessen combine with sinister and surprising lighting design which captures a chemistry that is genuinely astounding.
The undeniable showstopper of the evening in which every technical element was married to perfection was Stopgap Dance Company’s performance of “Tight Textures” and “Unplugged” two works in which five performers own the stage. Brilliantly confrontational and incredibly technical their “conveyor belt of dancers” multi and interdisciplinary in all the best ways. With speed, rhythm, and groove, with or without music their work is absolutely tremendous. An alternately recorded and live narrator explains that rather than begging a seat at any other table “we invite you to ours instead” and it’s an invitation one would be a fool to turn down, so gripping and potent is the journey of twists and turns this diverse ensemble of incredible dancers performs.
You can learn more about the work that Children Today does at this link https://linktr.ee/childrentodaycharity
Reviewer: Kira Daniels
Reviewed: 7th February 2024
North West End UK Rating: