L’ECUACIÓN IS A MESMERISING DISPLAY OF SYNCHRONISED MOVEMENT

By Madeleine Anderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

The tenth anniversary celebration of Carlos Acosta’s dance company showcased the breadth of the director’s stylish catalogue of work.

The show starts with four brightly dressed dancers performing L’Ecuación by George Céspedes, with angular and pacey moves at first confined within wooden pillars that form the outline of a box.

The dancers start by moving alone, with each beginning inside the box, before building rhythm as a four and eventually mirroring one another’s moves in a mesmerising display of synchronised movement.

The dancers worked best when together and delivered a level of precision which was sometimes lost when they moved alone, at a speed which seemed slightly off from the at times unpredictable beat of the music.

The next dance was 98 Días by Javier De Frutos (a close friend of Acosta’s who was also at the show himself), which included repetitive readings from the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca’s visit to Havana in 1930.

Lighting and colour were used brilliantly in this set, with dancers wearing bright blue boiler suits which shone out from the dark stage lighting as performers were spotlighted by harsh white lights from above.

This was a far bigger, fuller performance than the first, with around 15 performers on stage. With displays of romantic intensity that turn to physical aggression, the movement is dramatic and mesmerising, showing the love and anguish that Acosta is so often drawn to.

The third piece, Llamada from Goyo Montero, also makes impressive use of lighting, although this time moves from white light to a deep and sticky red.

Llamada starts cooly, with neutrally dressed dancers moving cautiously and alone, before starting to shake. After noticing his intimate embrace with another man, the dancers then attack the dancer as the lighting turns bloody and the dancers faces become devilish as they silently scream and gurn on stage. Once more, desire and danger clash on stage.

The final performance, De Punta a Cabo by Alexis Fernandez, is set against the Malecon esplanade in Havana, Acosta’s birthplace. In many ways the least interesting of all the dances performed, the movement displays the variety of Cuban dance culture, using a combination of classical dance, Salsa, and ballet.

As one audience member behind me noted ‘that was a very nice one,’ whilst bringing niceness and energy, De Punta a Cabo lacks intrigue and drama. But with a decade to look back on, you can’t blame Acosta for wanting to finish with something fun.

A Decade in Motion is being performed at Sadler’s Wells until September 27.

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Photo Credit: Hugo Glendinning