After an extended break from attending events (for multiple reasons including my own mental health battle), Thursday 18th September 2025 would be when I returned to the cultured setting of a Theatre, this time The Lyric theatre inside the Lowry in Salford Quays. I had a guest in attendance with me and after a meal beforehand we arrived to our seats around 15 minutes before the performance was due to start. The Lyric is the larger of the two theatre spaces that the Lowry has to offer. Personally I prefer the smaller of the two venues, particularly to watch Dance performances, but it was the Lyric that was hosting tonight.

Our seats for this performance were K1 & K2, which are on the right hand side of the theatre, on the front row of the break between the front stalls and the rear. The seats were quite comfortable with lots of legroom, though you had to watch for those entering and not looking where they were going. But when everyone was seated, you could stretch out. These seats are quite generous in their width too which is (these days) highly appreciated. The theatre for this performance was disappointingly on the side of empty. Particularly the sides of the front stalls and mostly all of the rear stalls behind us. The main central block seemed to be were most of the attendees were located, and the first tier seemed popular too. The second tier was completely empty and nobody was standing in the gallery either. I say disappointingly empty as this was Rambert Dance who were performing. They are far more used to selling out their performances when traveling North to the Lowry. Indeed when I booked my tickets just last week, there were not many unsold seats still available, so what happened to my esteemed colleagues within the audience, I do not know.

The performance started more or less on time, as Rambert tends to do, in buckfast with other well-known dance companies. A stage void of props relied heavily upon lighting to accompany the Dancers and when the music kicked in it was of a deep base, techno style. The evening of entertainment was split in to three very distinctive pieces, two of which happened prior to the interval. The first two performances were around 15 minutes in length each. The first was a piece called “HOP(E)STORM“, which made its debut early this year on the 7th of May at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. This was a piece choreographed by (LA)HORDE, the partner to Rambert Dance in these performances. Choreography was created by collaboration with Rambert Dancers and the rehearsal directors and Artistic Collaborator Jacquelyn Elder, and the piece featured a rotating selection of 12 Rambert Dancers from the full company of: Adél Bálint, Alessio Corallo, Angélique Blasco, Cali Hollister, Coke Lopez, Conor Kerrigan, Dipesh Verma, Dylan Tedaldi, Hannah Hernandez, Hua Han, Jau’mair Garland, Max Day, Naya Lovell, Seren Williams, Siang Huang, Simone Damberg-Würtz, Sungmin Kim, Tom Davis-Dunn.

The music for this piece started with a simple drum beat which transformed itself slowly in to the Lindy Hop classic start of Rock Around The Clock, but just the first bar or so of the introduction to that song. This was looped and worked in to the growing mix and repeated a couple of times with the Dancers performing or imitating the start of the Lindy Hop to the beat. But the music flowed away from that classic and towards a heavier techno beat. The dance itself was highly energetic from running launches & catches to Dance en troupe style, company-wide routines, repeated often over and over again. It did seem a little.. longer than was comfortable, and a little more repeated that required to watch. But it is what it is and not my place to judge more so than from my perspective as an audience member. I still have the greatest of respect for the performers who seemingly make it seem extremely easy when you know it’s not.

There was a short break at the end of the first performance before the second started, but as some if not most of the cast was the same, one or two of the Dancers remained on the stage, in position to start the second performance. The lights dimmed at the end of the first and came back up for the second, and without much of a pause the second piece started. This was a much slower, sensual feeling performance than the first, and was one that explored the themes of consent and sex positivity. Scenes of.. humping and orgy were ongoing throughout this piece. This was wildly up for interpretation throughout. The second piece was called “WEATHER IS SWEET” and was originally choreographed & performed by (LA)HORDE and the Ballet National De Marseille at the Southbank Centre on the 1st March 2024. It was then premiered by Rambert Dancers at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 7th May 2025. For this performance and the once I saw this evening, it was re-staged by Jonathan Myrhe Jørgensen and Elena Valls Garcia and Choreography was created by Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and  Arthur Harel of (LA)HORDE. Just 10 of the full company of Rambert Dancers performed this piece with those performing rotating at each performance, and with this being yet another show that didn’t feature a programme, printed or digital, I have no idea who performed tonight.

I thought this one was a very good performance, sensual in places, uncomfortable in others and seemingly able to poke fun at itself and be playful in others. Not taking itself too seriously, regardless of its creative intent. The music soundtrack for the first and second pieces of the evening was composed by Pierre Aviat, where as the musical composition for the third performance of the night was written by artist RONE.

There was an interval of around 30 minutes before the third piece of the evening was performed. This final piece was around 30 minutes in total length and it would be this piece that ended the night. The performance of it was actually just an extract of a much longer piece, and with that in mind, realising that these dancers had been on-stage and performing / moving for 30 minutes continuously makes what they do all that more impressive. The third piece was entitled “ROOM WITH A VIEW (extract)” and was originally performed at its premiere on the 5th Mar 2020 at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris. It was originally commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in association with Décibels Production and Infiné Paris. Rambert Dancers premiered this extract on the 7th May 2025 at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Choreography was created by Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel of (LA)HORDE and re-staged by Vito Giotta & Angel Martinez Hernandez.

“ROOMY WITH A VIEW” felt a lot more like it was in direct reference to the title of the evening “Bring Your Own”, in which you envisioned the dancers coming together at a party of some sort and bringing their own dance.. moves?! The piece started slowly in the downstage left hand corner of the stage, (which meant with our seats we could see.. nothing), and a group of the majority of the dancers performing an extremely slow-motion walk in a group from the back of the stage around to the front. They did this while individuals from the troupe danced and span around them. This, to me felt like the battle between authority and the individual, seeking freedom. Eventually the extreme slow motion spreads to the rest of the group but they all revolt together, literally sticking their middle fingers up at the audience in slow, deliberate and suggestive ways. This was both funny and could be taken as being offensive, but I think really, if you are to be offended at art, then the art has probably done it’s job. It’s extracted a reaction from you. My reaction was slow (as I can be sometimes), but more so trying to work out what they were doing, before it became obvious with them audibly venting their anger towards the audience (physically facing, they were not I don’t think angry AT the audience).

A period of the extract saw them each running up towards the audience at the front of the stage and being vicious with their anger, ‘pointing with intent’ their middle fingers and almost goading for a reaction before being pulled back and controlled by their fellow cast members. This was fun to see, the supportive, protective nature of the group. Finally to finish this extract of the performance, the cast come together on stage while the soundtrack reaches its climax of droning sounds with a long-repeated rhythm that lent itself to being simple enough for the Dancers to start to hum and sing along to. This, together with the music created a unique choir-style effect of voices and music, till eventually the musical accompaniment faded out leaving only the voices of the Dancers as they remained on stage. Finally they left the stage as their choral effect ran out, and as they did they stopped singing along. So the volume which was at its highest with all Dancers on the stage, slowly diminished till all had left the stage. It really was a surprising ending, seeing the cast ‘come together’ after being so openly and loudly angry earlier and certainly the first time that I have witnessed a performance ending in such a surreal yet natural way.

Overall, I would give the evening a solid 3.5 out of five. The performance of the dancers was outstanding, the lighting and music were good and well suited too and the choreography was top notch. This was the third time I have tried to catch Rambert Dance on stage and in action, and I am glad I finally did. I would like to see them performing some of their own independent choreography however sometime in the future, so I will try again. A great return to the audience, a relatively quite and respectful audience, or perhaps that was only because half of them was missing.

(Photography by Hugo Glendinning).