Zero

How low can one go, how deep, how far down? For Clod Ensemble the answer is to zero. Fortunately for the audience they do this with extraordinary skill in a performance that takes the idea of feeling the blues and delivers it with elegance and also with humour, energy and from time to time with a tongue firmly in cheek. Dark as the subject might be, the superb live score, blues harp and voice backed by drums, guitar, trombone, accordion and cello is interspersed with recorded voices, people in despair, people on the edge, angry, confrontational and – well depressed. Beautifully but sparingly lit, this is dance theatre with real power and a clear story to tell. Seldom does modern dance have so clear a narrative that lifts this from simply being an exercise in disciplined athleticism to real theatre.

Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, 21 May 2013
Rating:
Andrew Kay