Watts Dance, John Livingston Dance and Alice Weber and Ben Saffer
Resolution 2017
The Place, London
Watts Dance WLA No.657005
John Livingston Dance Am I a waste of space?
Alice Weber and Ben Saffer Inter/action
Watts Dance offers a refreshing change to the Resolution line up with their period piece WLA No.657005. Cecilia Watts, her five female dancers, and their live pianist, Robin Porter, transport us to the depths of the Second World War with a nostalgic portrayal of the Women’s Land Army. The dancers transform into a living production line, with mechanical movement that steadily zigzags around the space. Watt’s choreographic skill shines through in the complex tangles of group contact work where the dancers react to one another with a caring response. This emotive mood encompasses the piece and reveals the support system that the women have formed through these uncertain times.
John Livingston confronts prejudice against his disability of Down’s syndrome with his latest work Am I a waste of space? This brave and exposing performance is created with improvised movement to pursue a validation of life. He explores different facets of his identity with impulses that are driven from a raw and emotive place. There is great variation in the musical accompaniment from classical operatic sounds to heavy drum beats. Livingston’s emotions intensify with the progression in sound, but the choreographic content struggles to change pace due to the meandering nature of his improvisation.
Alice Weber and Ben Saffer explore the interplay between live and film in Inter/action. Weber performs with both dancers and recorded images in three scenes to reveal the relationships between the digital and the living. The initial setting projects a recorded double of Weber as they dance a playful duet, dipping in and out of synchronisation, testing their connection. It advances to physical interaction with the introduction of Merritt Millman who dynamically opposes Weber. Projected natural imagery dominates the closing scene which Weber instinctively reacts to with a mesmerising movement vocabulary. The work proves that living and virtual interaction form intriguing relationships, but ultimately the piece lacks flow due to the segregation in its structure.