Living in south-east London means that Notting Hill can feel as distant and awkward to access as Cornwall or the Shetlands. Even Carnival can’t tempt me these days, but you know what can? The Coronet Theatre. It opened in 1898. Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt have both graced its stage. It’s a bijou Victorian space, rather than grand, but it has the best theatre bar in the UK, maybe the world. Dimly lit, with a sloping floor, it’s a bohemian carnival of vintage charm and maximalist eccentricity. The theatre has an impressively experimental programme. A previous jaunt to The Coronet was to see the lovely Lemm Sissay read from a collection of poems. The streets of Notting Hill were once again witness to my presence due to a contemporary dance piece by a Chuang Po-Hsiang, a critically acclaimed Taiwanese rising star of choreography.
Po-Hsiang formed the dance troupe D_Antidote Production in 2022 and after success in Taiwan, their award winning Palingenesis was a hit at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. That production was inspired by the ‘rat king’ phenomenon, where a gaggle of rats become entangled by their own tails, symbolising the pathological attachment in group dynamics that can only be severed by death. If one is looking for tutus, beauty and cheer, Po-Hsiang ain’t your man.
Non-Ordinary Services is a new show from D_Antidote Production, featuring seven dancers. They arrive on stage in one homogonous, writhing form, before breaking up into parts that sometimes feature pairs or solo. They are dressed in body stockings which also cover their heads, like alien morphs. In addition to looking quite creepy, the movement is wilfully inhuman. When they interact as pairs, there’s an aspect of copulation in the vibes, but grimly devoid of eroticism. It’s like watching insects have sex. Interesting, slightly revolting and compelling. The Dutch body horror film The Human Centipede came to mind. Sometimes their movements were decidedly arachnid. At other times, quite demonic. In horror films, when people become possessed, they tend to scuttle about, their limbs at weird angles, moving like stop motion puppets. The dancers in this show are experts at this fiendish aesthetic.
As a teenager, Po-Hsiang could often be found in Ximending, practicing street dance and taking part in dance battles and competitions. In amongst the oddly amphibian shapes and spidery orgies, there were definitely some breakdancing moves and a few ballroom death drops. Accompanying this inhuman spectacle was a soundtrack by Ko Blaire that might be described as ‘industrial ambient’. It was the sounds of drips and clicks, like busy caterpillars in a wet cave on a distant planet, in another universe.
Later in the show, the dancers emerged in face-covering long veils. The wispy chadors were a bit Medieval and slightly Arabic. ‘Is this about Palestine?’ I thought to myself, while astounded at the odd shapes the dancers were creating. The Costume Design by Chen Ya-Chi was excellent, minimal and unnerving. Po-Hsiang cites the Euro choreographers, Damien Jalet and Dimitris Papaioannou as inspirations. However, my first thought on watching this show was Michael Clarke and his collaborations with Leigh Bowery. Though the body modifying outfits were less extreme in this show, it was the commitment to grotesquery and unconventional movement which echoed those icons of dance and performance art.
The piece ended when one of the dancers emerged, free of face mask and body stocking. With a flawless, athletic body and identity revealed, he moved beautifully, like a dancer, becoming recognisably human. What had once been anonymous, freakish and otherworldly became a young man, relatable and attractive. Po-Hsiang says that the piece weaves, ‘a story of the strange and often invisible systems that shape human relationships.’ That’s a lot to unpack, but it definitely went to some dark places. Non-Ordinary Services was compelling, disturbing, technically on point and hypnotic. It might be too abstract and deep for some audiences, but that’s exactly the type of art we need right now.
Non-Ordinary Services and Palingenesis are at the Coronet Theatre until 31st October
Reviewer: Stewart Who?
Reviewed: 28th October 2026
North West End UK Rating: