Wednesday, October 9

Tag: Dance Consortium

Ailey 2 – Hull New Theatre
Yorkshire & Humber

Ailey 2 – Hull New Theatre

Storm Babet was no deterrent to the hardy souls who ventured out on Friday evening to watch Ailey 2 at the Hull New Theatre. This energetic troupe of modern dancers - I counted 12 in all - come to the city as part of a UK tour. Ailey 2 has been described by the New York Times as being the “younger version of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater” - a company founded in 1958 by choreographer, dancer and visionary, Alvin Ailey to bring African-American dance to the world stage from its base in the Big Apple. From what I witnessed on Friday evening, Ailey’s quest has been a huge success. At curtain up, the stage - left, right and centre - was enveloped in black, as were the dancers who emerged in the gloom to a hypnotic, and very loud, drum beat. They moved individually, sometimes...
Passagers – Hull New Theatre
Yorkshire & Humber

Passagers – Hull New Theatre

This is going to be the shortest review I’ve ever written. Here goes: O.M.G! Well, as this is a UK premiere, my reviewer conscience won’t let me stop at just three letters, so I’ll carry on. On a rainy Tuesday night in Hull, a packed house marvelled at the antics of eight super-talented performers, male and female, who go by the name of The 7 Fingers. A short glitch at curtain up meant we were sitting looking at a dark stage for a couple of minutes, but things were soon rectified and from then on it was breathtaking action all the way. The theme of train journeys ran throughout - departures, arrivals and everything else associated with rail travel. Here, I must mention the amazing background scenes and atmospheric lighting and music that accompanied every movement on stage. ...