RE:INCARNATION
Qudus Onkeku & The QDance Company
Grounded in the rhythms and street sounds of Lagos this explosive performance lurches from moments of stillness and calm to frenzied activity. The raw physicality of the performers matched by the pulsing beats of the combined tracks and live musical scoring. The stage is blank, black and comes to life in a rainbow of vibrantly coloured costumes. To start the dancers are wrapped in bands of cloth, bandages almost and on the back wall we see hanging a mass of street clothes. Slowly unwinding from their bondage they dress for a contemporary world but that world is one of chaos and aggression, shouting, shoving and disarray. The chaos descends into scenes of carnality and desire and before long the painful experience of childbirth.
It’s not the most relaxing of starts to a dance work and perhaps dance is insufficient in describing what we are seeing, part dance, part drama and definitely their own form of physical theatre. Their moves are very much their own and not based in western dance forms, they are staccato, jerky even and often unexpected.
And the unexpected is certainly a key factor in what we are seeing. The street vibe of the opening moments soon becomes ritualistic and tribal, the scoring intense, searing at times and the costumes are bizarre at times but also recognisable, elements I recognise from the photographic records of African culture of Wilfred Thesiger. Strange that I link this contemporary vision of Africa with the work of an ex-military British soldier but also poignant that my vision of African culture comes from a colonial perspective.
Soon we have visions of a feral world where wild animalistic presences threaten and attack. Visually it is by this point stunning, dancers colliding and releasing clouds of powder in the semi-dark of the stage. The lighting of the production is at times really very striking and at others rather less so, but the moments that work are well worth seeing.
And in the final passage the visual language being used is truly magical. The company dressed in black appear in a small floor level beam of light emanating from the back wall, we see only feet and lower legs. Gradually a sheet of some kind is dragged onto the stage and unfolded. It is mysterious for sure, we have no visual clues to lead us to what is to come.
But what comes is quite extraordinary. The dancers move onto the sheet and slowly it becomes clear that they are standing and moving in some kind of black liquid which they start to smear over their own bodies and each other. The wet blackness picks up the lights, amber glows coming from the wings, in streaks of moving muscularity whilst in front one character performs a frenzied dance. Gradually that character is also anointed in the wet black substance and the light increases so we can see more distinct human forms, a dark and disturbing reincarnation.
This work is thought provoking, much of the content challenging and unfamiliar, but it that challenge and unfamiliarity that makes it so good. The energy and commitment is undeniable, the storytelling good but at times a little obscure, and perhaps the whole just a little too long. That said 90 minutes passed quickly and those moments of pure magic were well worth waiting for.
Andrew Kay
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
1 October
Rating:
