This one was somewhat different for me. It had with it some different feelings. First of all this was the first event I have attended inside Lillian Baylis Studios, which is part of Sadlers Wells, but next door. It is a performance space, or series of performances spaces that is smaller than Sadlers Wells itself, more intimate if you like. The venue itself was great. A smaller stage and space than Sadlers Wells by far, but configurable too. For the Candoco Dance Company performance of In Side Out it was configured for an audience of around 120 people. I am not sure it was however that full in the end. There were different seating options and with the ticket being an attendance only ticket, you were free to sit where you wanted. The choice was Chair’s on the front row, basically on the stage / performance floor, or chairs going backwards up the seating stack, but the chairs where movable so there was plenty of leg room as required. I chose to sit on the right side of the first row on the first tier of the stack.

In front of me was one row of chairs on the stage but lower than my height, so I could see perfectly over the top. In front of them was a row of beanbags that people could choose to sit on and in front of those was a row of cushions for people to sit on if they wanted to be in the nosebleed row! I was more than happy with my seat. It was a great view and close up to the action. – Would I return to Lillian Baylis Studio to see something else – Absolutely, Yes. The space has a cafe/bar as you head right past Reception and quite a large area with seating options. At the back is another room with a partition style door that can either make the space closed off or kept open to provide either most space for sitting, or another space for performance. This would be used later in the night for a performance.

The performance on the night I attended was what was called a ‘Relaxed Performance’, meaning that certain steps are taken to make sure that the event is as accessible as possible, to people who have anxiety about attending events as well as those who are disabled in some way. For example there was a BSL interpreter present for when people were talking and spoken words were projected on to a screen at the back of the stage. The house lights would stay on throughout the performances too and there was even ‘chill out’ rooms were you could choose to go and sit whenever you wanted, if you needed a break from the performance space. They were even piping a live feed from the auditorium through to the Cafe and chill out areas. – Ironically, this performance being a ‘Relaxed’ performance, and being in Lillian Baylis Studios – a new venue to me, actually made me much more anxious than I would usually have been attending a Dance event. As some of my good friends could attest to, I was a bag of nerves prior to attending this event. I was putting it down to not having done anything solo for a while, but really, I honestly do not know why I was so nervous about this one.

First I feel I must set the premise for this event, what it is and who Candoco Dance Company are… Candoco have been around for an amazing 30 years as a Dance Company and have during that time choreographed a stunning amount of magnificent performances. My first experience of some of these was at the Set and Reset/Reset & Last Shelter double bill I experienced earlier in the year at The Lowry. So I went into this performance thinking back to Last Shelter which has been the best performance I have seen during 2022. This In Side Out event was something different. This was not a retrospective look back upon the 30 years of experience and achievement that Candoco has had, this was a look forward featuring new works and setting a new direction and intent for Candoco as it looks to its next 30 years of performance. It must be said that the individual Dancers involved with this performance and the pieces exhibited were as always stunning and beautiful to watch. Candoco is an inclusive dance company, continuously expanding perceptions as to what Dance can be. None of the disabilities that any one individual has negatively impacts their abilities to perform and Dance at a highly professional level. You don’t even see anything except pure movement anyway. It is only afterwards that you realise what strength in the core and what mental strength it must take to get up and perform, and all of them do it quite obviously for the love of performance.

The evening was split up into four performances. Three of them were in the main auditorium and one was in the Cafe were we sat when we first arrived at the venue. Each performance was around 25 minutes in length and was followed by an interval were you were free to leave your seats and go and wonder around. I made some notes on each of the performances during the intervals while awaiting the next performance on the night…

The first performance was by Seke Chiumtengwende – Wow what a name, and it was called ‘In Worlds Unknown’. It was intended to explore different ways in which individual people experience a collective feeling of being lost. A playful dance with each pretending to be lost within their own world. Spoken word is used from the dancers and interpenetrated by the BSL woman throughout the piece as they dance. They had some technical issues with one of the microphones so one of the Dancers had to deal with also having to shout to match the volume of the others. Text is projected on to the back of the stage throughout too, but it is not shown or indicated who is speaking. The spoken words don’t always make sense in a conversational way. I didn’t find that this piece particularly hit me with anything profound as such. It was a good performance. The spoken word for me didn’t really add anything to the performance.

Moving on to the second piece, this one was called ‘Soft Shell’ by Annie Hanauer and this performance was about challenging the rules and perceptions of yourself and how you are seen by others. This is a darker piece with more moody lighting than the first performance. The Dancers wear green and gold costumes but towards the end each of them ‘find’ another part of their costumes hanging down from a chain and attach them to themselves. This piece was set to a much more upbeat soundtrack than the first one was. There is no spoken word in this piece. Pure movement. The stage was lit for this one with a box of light created around the dancers who for most of the piece kept inside this box. Being so close to the stage for this piece was good as you could really focus on the footwork and muscle movement of the Dancers. This was the best piece of the night for me personally. The standout Dancer of the night for me was Anna Seymour.

The third and final piece performed in the auditorium was called ‘Scaling’ by Marketa Stranska & Charlie Morrissey. This was what was called an ‘intimate and detailed performance practice’. Made up of several tasks that the Dancers set themselves to improvise in a performance setting. This was a slow and deliberate performance. In parts only singular pieces of each Dancer was moving, from a finger to a touch, scaling with time as the performance went on. The space was reconfigured for this performance. The Beanbags and cushions were moved from the front row of seating and placed on the sides and rear of the stage. People were still able to sit on these, so the performance became almost ‘within the round’. This was supposedly so that the Dancers could make use of the whole stage… But really, I didn’t see any reason for them to make this change. This dance probably used less of the stage than the previous two combined. Interestingly this piece was danced to mostly Silence with if anything a very low soundtrack of sounds, waves lapping, rain falling, water rushing etc. It was interesting to see that Dance can be performed silently too which was apt because at least one of the Candoco Dancers is deaf. During her performances within the first two dances of the evening, she was Dancing while signing too. Amazing to see.

The fourth and final performance took place at the back of the Cafe outside of the auditorium. This was performed by Joel Brown and was entitled ‘Family Home Evening’. This was a snippet of a longer piece from Joel which was based upon his Mormon upbringing in America where it is traditional for families to come together to sing, share talents and chat after dinner. Joel was playing his electronic guitar and dancing from a wheelchair. I have to admit I did not watch this entire performance, and I left shortly after the last dance performance in the auditorium. Sorry Joel.

The Guardian gave “In Side Out” by Candoco Dance Company only three out of five stars and called it “[more of] an exploratory step rather than a decisive move” (Sanjoy Roy, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/nov/17/candoco-in-side-out-review-lilian-baylis-theatre). Where as thestage.co.uk gives it only two out of five stars and calls it “Playful. Explorative and understated programme” (Rachel Elderkin, https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/candoco-in-side-out-review-at-lilian-baylis-studio). So it seems that it wasn’t the finest collection of work Candoco has ever performed but overall I thought it was a good night of performance. Candoco has a strong future ahead of them with their current Company of Dancers and Choreographers and under the direction of Charlotte Darbyshire their Artistic Director, they have a strong sense of direction of which way to set their sail and head into the next 30 years. Will be looking out for more Candoco performances within 2023.