“How did we get here?” – Is the title of this stunning piece of work from Jules Cunningham. Jules together with Melanie C (Spice Girls) and award-winning Dancer Harry Alexandra performed this evening at Sadlers Wells, the home of Dance in London. An intimate performance presented ‘in-the-round’ with seating being placed around the sides and back of the stage, with the first half of the stalls being used as well. Seating was allocated and therefore unreserved so you could sit wherever you wanted, wherever there was a space. I arrived at about 7:15pm which was later than I would have liked and seeing that the majority of the on-stage seating was full, I took a seat in the Stalls. I had a great view from there, unrestricted view of the stage, around foot-level with no seat in front of me, so.. lots of leg room. Unrestricted if Mr. I-am-bored-half-way-through-so-I-must-check-my-phone sat back in his seat. Between him and Mr. I-must-fill-all-silences-with-coughing sat to the left of me… British public.. but at least I didn’t have an Italian ass in my face… (Must remember that seat for the future). The performance started more or less on time which is unusual and started with a fade up from black. Pure black. Nobody saw the dancers enter the stage before the lights went up, and they did so so silently. The piece started with what i thought was a Nina Simone song (which was actually a Janis Ian song called “Stars”. (I attributed it to Nina Simone because Jules Cunningham did so during the after-show discussion, which I will talk about later. But the Nina Simone version is actually a cover with some ad-libing and changing of lyrics. Regardless the piece started with a version of “Stars”, which was playing out with the accomplishment of a singular disco ball off-set up stage right. The disco light was lit by a single focused spot which threw its light hauntingly across the stage and on-stage audience. The song “Stars” continues right the way through till the end where it is met seamlessly with the electronic throbs of the Wibke Tiarks soundtrack. The song “Stars” would also appear around mid-way through the performance, the first part sung by Janis Ian but then transitioning into the Nina Simone version, which is a lot more somber than the Janis Ian version was originally. Again at the end the piece reverts back to the Nina Simone version of the song to finish with, and it’s modified lyrics really do make a fitting end for this piece of work.
The Dance starts out with Jules Cunningham, Harry Alexander & Melanie Chisholm all on stage together moving very slowly with very short and purposeful movements. There are some balance issues early on for Mel C which are.. noticeable to those who perhaps attend more Dance performances than those out just to see a ‘celebrity’ performing in a professional dance environment. But what she lacked in balance in this very first, premier performance she more than made up for in the pure strength shown from her core and arms. Mel C is of course a trained Dancer who did her training as a child and although she did not pursue Dance as a profession, she certainly remembers her training. But being totally honest, the early balance issues can be attributed to nerves and stage fright. I can imagine coming out on to the stage to perform such a choreographed dance off-the-bat can make even the most stoic of performer a little nervous. It was only noticeable when she was paired with Jules & Harry, both Professional and experienced Dancers. When in Solos Mel C held her own completely and her flexibility was nothing less than impressive. During the post-performance discussion she talked about her pleasure of being able to perform at Sadlers Wells, on that hallowed stage, and the impression I got from watching the work and listening during the discussion was that she was over the moon at having the opportunity to perform on that stage. Which was nice to see. She was incredibly humble in reality. All three of the dancers in the piece had sections were they danced solo with the others either sitting at the side of the stage, or laying in place or disappearing off-stage completely. Unfortunately I felt that Harry Alexander was criminally under-utilized for this performance. While his on-stage presence and performance was outstanding, as you would expect from this award-winning dancer, there were times where he was off-stage more than he was on it. It felt that perhaps his inclusion in the work was to take some of the pressure from Mel C. I hope that was not the case because that is such a complete waste of his talent. But he seems happy with his contributions to the work.
“How did we get here?” is almost (without saying it) a ‘What if?’ Phrase.. and you should know if you read this stuff how much I cannot stand that phrase. But it was not an easily explained concept, neither by the free-sheet pre-performance or the post-show discussion. – I didn’t even see if there was a program provided or not. I really never thought to look as usually you are pretty much smacked with it whenever you enter the venue, and I wanted to grab a drink (free water) and get a seat quick. (Thanks traffic). It’s important in Dance that you as an audience member realise that you will likely view the performance in a different way to the person sitting next to you. It is a very open interpretation of the intentions and ideology of the work. So the artist, dancers or choreographers can explain what they intended for the piece, but it is really up to the individual open mind to decide what it is about and ultimately, what it means to them. So what did I think it was about? – Well take the song “Stars”, it’s a powerful lament about Fame and what keeping it does for you. For the creator. The movement was somber in nature throughout with both blissful moments of joy as well as deep, depressing moments of despair. – I was just happy that it wasn’t a piece about reflection on the past (as most have been since venues started to reopen post-pandemic lock-downs). It was nice to have something with a little bit of depth into which it was possible to dig in and sink through.
The lighting was as much of a feature of the performance as the Dancers were. At times for example, the disco ball being the only object lit on the stage and the dancers moving in and out of its light. At other times there were very focused white spots which allowed the audience to see the skin-tight cat-suits designed by Stevie Stewart and worn with style. There appears to have been at times some digital projection happening on to their clothing when dancing together. At other times during solos and times when coming out of solo’s and into the trio performing together once more there were some special features, for example Jules Cunningham being lit completely in Blue for her solo with Mel C getting a warmer reddish-pink. The Sadlers Wells stage was well utilized with flying elements dropping down at various points throughout. Remember this was a 1 hour performance, without an interval so several cues happened seamlessly. At one point there is a heart warming duo between Jules & Mel where Mel ‘sings’ in lyrical “Na’s” to which Jules responds with audible responses as if playing some sort of instrument on the ground. The difference between Mel’s stage-trained voice projection and the quieter sounds coming from Jules, requiring a microphone to be flown in.. There was something special in this moment, a moment of acceptance of different talents and how to utilize them together. The piece ended much how it started with the return of the disco ball and some slow-dancing before the eventual fade out to black. Choreography for this piece was created and credited to Jules Cunningham but during the post-show discussion she mentioned that it was a collaborative effort with Mel C adding that sometimes she can be a little silly in rehearsals and workshops, and she has to be careful around Jules because Jules will take something funny or silly that happens during these workshops and somehow add it to the choreography. To be honest I think there is no other way other than to work collaboratively on a composition such as this. Unless all dancers were supposed to be performing the same movements ‘en-troupe’.
It was good to see that this wasn’t a ‘Dance performance based around Mel C’ or a ‘performance with a celebrity’, but instead was a serious piece of creative artwork from Jules Cunningham, featuring Mel C and Harry Alexander. I think many people through that this may just be an exercise in self-indulgence from Jules with Melanie featured as a star attraction. But it was anything but that. There was a lot of trust placed within the trio of dancers to perform with professionalism and zero egos. There was nerves in the performance, that was clear. Jules & Harry were as flawless as they ever are, but they are trained for this, they perform professionally all of the time. You could just see the standard of balance and freedom of movement from them, their feet gliding flawlessly across the stage. But they all did a great job of performing for each other too and supporting each other’s performances and strengths while on stage. The work runs for a number of nights now and I would hazard a guess that with every performance it will get a little better. But that shouldn’t take anything away from this premier performance. In the post-show discussion Mel C mentioned that she knew her performance wasn’t perfect on the first night, but that it was ok, she’d accepted that and knows it would get better with time and practice.
This ‘feature’ of a post-show discussion is an odd one for me. I love to stay and listen, as did the majority of the audience too. But it is not a natural thing for a Dancer or Choreographer to go through. Sure it gets the artists closer to the audience with questions from both the panel leader (in this case it was the Chief Executive of Sadlers Wells, the person who allowed this collaboration to take to the Sadlers stage), but seeing these dancers, who’s communication is primarily through the movement they showcase through their choreography, put on the spot and be made to answer questions.. It is just all a little bit odd. That’s not to say it shouldn’t happen, but I think it’s.. a difficult thing to do. I think the focus of this particular panel was more for the audience to be able to ask Mel C questions. Jules and Harry were clearly uncomfortable speaking in public, which is again fine, it’s not there main form of communication. But each held their own, answered the questions they could – You can trust the British audience to come up with some stupid questions when given half the chance.
In summary.. I felt the performance was a good one for the premier. It will get better as the nights go on. There was a clear reason for these three dancers to be on the stage together and each of them shared the weight of the performance with professionalism and ease. Balance and nerves issues aside, I felt the choreography was good. Mostly slow moments throughout with a little faster here and there, but very much matched the music for the most part and certainly created answers to the question of “How did we get here?”.
