Resolution, The Place, London, review: Part of Britain’s dance ecosystem
Resolution is an important part of Britain’s dance ecosystem. Now in its 29th year, this platform for new contemporary dance, hosted by London venue The Place, has been an early step in so many careers, from Wayne McGregor and ZooNation’s Kate Prince to Hofesh Schecter and Tony Adigun. Openness is the key to the festival's success. This year, there will be 81 works in a six-week season, so many chances to experiment and explore.
Any given Resolution night is a lucky dip. The 2018 season will include works by dancers from major companies, including Rambert, in styles from hip hop to circus dance and themes from politics to abstraction. On the first night, the range included origami and an exploration of states of mind.
In ACT, Matthieu Geffré, formerly of National Dance Company Wales, explored ideas of creation. Dressed in papery white dungarees, he twists and turns to a recording of Dylan Thomas’s poem "In the Beginning". As the soundtrack shifts to music by Arvo Pärt, Geffré slows, focuses on one body part or another, a curling hand or stretched back. The piece rambles, but there’s a charmingly odd moment when Geffré produces a piece of paper from his dungarees pocket and folds it into a flower, giving it to a front row spectator with a courtly flourish.
Kendall Farrell’s Submerged is about being overwhelmed. Four women, dressed in street clothes, hurl themselves into frenetic choreography, bodies twitching and shaking to James Keane’s pounding music. It’s danced with abandon, though there could be more sense of progression.
Lucy Palmer Dance’s The Left Hand Path was the most mature and finished work of the evening, created on a larger scale and performed with authority. Four men stand by an open doorway, light picking out a path stretching away from it. To a shifting soundtrack, from Nina Simone to works by the creative team, the men confront each other or fall into urgent dances.
Palmer’s choreography shows a sense of theatre, contrasting still poses and pumping action. With blackouts, her cast snap from one scene to another – an apparently calm group followed by one where one dancer snarls like a dog, ready to attack another. The movement is weighted and juicy, with touches of hip hop fluidity. Joe Barton, Nathan Chipps, Kennedy Junior Muntanga and Harry Ondrak-Wright, are distinctive performers, dancing with power.
Until 23 February (theplace.org.uk)
