COAL

Marking the 30th anniversary of the Miner’s Strike in Britain, Gary Clarke’s contemporary dance piece COAL brought the transformation of the coal towns and communities back with a verve and a physicality that cut through the years and exposed the still raw nerve once again. A remarkable show, capturing the community sprit above ground and comradery soul and physical twisting of the body – inside and out – below it. Combining contemporary dance with spoken testimonies, contorting the dancers’ incredible bodies to a tangible discomfort – communicating even more when the words were absent – this was a performance to be remembered. Like the history it tells.

Brighton Dome, 28 March 2018
Rating:
Victoria Nangle