Dot.Consla & Sarita’s Dance Lab, Salah El Brogy Company and House of Absolute
Resolution 2017
The Place, London
Dot.Consla & Sarita’s Dance Lab Glimpses
Salah El Brogy Company Letting Go
House of Absolute Warrior Queens
Dance fusion permeates the penultimate triple bill of Resolution and showcases how contemporary dance embraces all cultures and genres to elevate choreography.
The sensual Latin dance style of Brazilian Zouk is questioned and fragmented in Dot.Consla & Sarita’s Dance Labs Glimpses. The choreographers and performers, Dorottya Ujszaszi and Sarita Piotrowski, interrogate the traditional partner dance with an exploration of duality and independence. Their initial efforts to forge a peaceful partnership are ruined as a savage duet breaks out. The state of their relationship sporadically flickers throughout the piece – aggression, flirtation, coyness, playfulness, and desperation are all experienced. The strong purpose of the work unravels in its closing moments with a private glimpse into their choreographic process as they sketch and create material together. Although an effective device, it seems alien to the otherwise accomplished piece.
A personal and eclectic tale of grief is described by Egyptian choreographer, Salah El Brogy, in his solo performance, Letting Go. At times he dons a djellaba and headscarf to transform into a dying man. He moves through the motions of death with sharp gasps and sudden collapses. The piece develops into a childhood memory which inspires the intriguing examination of an infant’s behaviour. This enthralling action is laced with outstanding virtuosity as he blends capoeira fighting movement with his own contorted dance style. El Brogy’s sophisticated choreography finds a natural point of balance between unnerving and poignant.
House of Absolute form their own tribal culture in the ritualistic dance, Warrior Queens. Seven fierce women are possessed by furious clawing hands and contorted torsos. Dynamic hip-hop qualities and distinctive Waacking arm movements are subtly and skilfully blended with contemporary dance to create a primal language. A cloak is used to distort the human form as it conceals parts of the dancers’ bodies and is pulled into twisted shapes. Anticipation boils up with the raw power of the work but is disappointingly let down by the absence of any climactic moment.