Have a read of some show reviews which our current Young Dance Ambassadors have written as part of their Silver Arts Award.
Luma Georgis
The NME awards
4 bands. 3 friends. 2 buses. 1 hell of a night.
We edged our way to the front and got to the second row. The wait for Peace was agonising but worth it! Once they started, I was powerless; they were in control. My blood was pumping for ‘Bloodshake’ and I was in a daze during ‘California Daze’.
Palma Violets came on next; the most anticipated. Their rock n roll vibe awakened us from the trance that Peace created. The crowd moved like a wave, violently clashing and crashing everywhere. The lead singer stage dived during Best of Friends and a frenzy of excitement was created.
This excitement continued into the next set. Miles Kane, a suave indie icon emerged from the darkness; his crooning voice submerging the audience under his spell. During ‘Inhaler’ I felt like I needed my inhaler; he made me that breathless.
Django Django were the perfect act to end the night. We danced the night away, bopping to ‘Hail Bop’. The visuals and electronic upbeat melodies created a feeling of euphoria; we all left Brixton Academy with an overwhelming sense of happiness. It was the perfect night.
Mati O’Neil
Trey Songz
On 1st February 2013 I saw Trey Songz perform live at Hammersmith Apollo.
The performance was incredible and it is surely I night I won’t forget! When Trey was performing he involved the audience a lot to engage the audience in his performance as well, he made every person in the audience feel like they were connected with how he was feeling. He created a calm yet exciting atmosphere using the choreography and stage setting.
The performance was adrenaline filled and Trey kept the audience on their toes and screaming! The colours and effects used for his performance were very deep but mellow which reflected the slow and soothing songs that he is famous for, the choreography was also very lyrical which added to the excitement.
Trey got the audience involved and kept everyone smiling all night long, the theme of his show linked so perfectly with the songs he was singing and made it a wonderful and memorable night!
Shona Phillips
Lewisham is Live!
Diverse, cultural and youthful. A variety of Dance styles all brought together on one stage. Simply brilliant. I really enjoyed watching how energetic and free the younger children were and how technical and strong the older ones were. Lewisham Live Dance Showcase really did showcase the talent in the youth of Lewisham.
Specifically, I thought the lighting on stage was incredible as the colours of the lights really emphasised the different parts of the dances which brought more excitement to the pieces. It was also interesting how some of the groups brought different cultures into the dances, whether this was through the particular dance moves they did or literally bringing a flag of their country onto the stage!
Fortunately, the hosts kept the show flowing and kept the audience interested as the show was slightly long as there we so many groups, yet they all brought something new to the stage. Although, it would have been nice to see some unusual dance styles that we wouldn’t expect, such as the tango! Overall, the show was very diverse and very successful!
Xavier Bailey
Show of Hands
On Tuesday 27th November, me and the Student Ambassadors were invited to go see ‘Show of Hands’ at Trinity Laban performed and choreographed by Freddie Opoku-Addaie. The show was… unusual and different, I never imagined the props to be so literal and simultaneous to the performance’s theme. It was hard to analyse what the storyline is but that is what probably made it interesting from the audience’s perspective, working out what the story behind the dance is and watching a performance just by its moves.
At the beginning of the performance, the solo performer (Freddie) was wearing casual clothing so when we saw him walk on to the stage and look at us as if we intruded into something very personal of his, the audience were astounded, confused and curious just as he was.
Music was small but significant; using small riffs and beats over random monologues created suspense and tension for the audience; as the music got louder every time the performer spoke repeatedly. The hands – which were used as props – used, some of the audience members may argued, each one interpreted a fragmented piece of memories and fantasies the performer used to hold with him, only being able to piece one memory; his passion for Football as 22 hands were halved into to football teams as the speech “To me, to Freddy!” was repeated like he was on the football pitch. To add to the originality of the performance, the shadows of the hands got longer and longer, reaching out to the audience. Now, what made this my favourite aspect of the show was that it represented and interpreted how a performance ‘draws the audience in’; whether this was intentional or not it got me thinking psychologically about how Dance inspires people.
Overall, this performance was unexpected, but that’s probably why it was such a good piece. 4 out of 5 stars!
Rachel Dixon
Show of Hands
Arms and literally ‘hands’ wide open, Freddie Opoku invited us to adventure in his autobiographical solo. He displayed a musical score on stage, by orchestrating his army of 22 hand crafted wood hands (22 specifically reflecting 11-11 sided teams because of his passion for football). As he pondered on his memories throughout the show, he used 2 hands to represent his conflicting responses on past decisions that he had encountered during his life by vocally projecting ‘cant’ (being one hand) and ‘will'(being the other). He also pulls his shirt vigorously around the stage to echo the external influence of offers that were ‘handed’ to him. He also involved the audience a lot by looking concisely around the auditorium and referring back to the line of hands, comparing us almost to the open gestures on stage.
At one point he made us put up our hands for him to repeat something, mirroring what was in front of us. The hands ranged from sizes reflecting ages I.e. the smallest baby hand was cherished a lot throughout his solo for example he placed it on a plaque whilst he was on the opposite end of the stage also on a plaque, at a higher level on a stall, again referring back to his life and growth as a man, pinching the show to an end quite nicely.
Although these where my most favourite highlights of the solo, I did wonder on his theme of football. I understand that this was biographical but there was no other invitation of different depictions of his life, I found myself left waiting to know more about Freddie. The ‘cant’ and ‘will’ phrase went on for a long duration as he was re-arranging the hands as he spoke, I felt this tired not only him but the audience. Personally I was expecting something different, I felt the hands where there to aesthetically please and show the power of the meaning of the show as well as add to his memories of football but he could have incorporated them into his movement.
The use of pre-recorded tracks from Opoku’s video recordings at football matches made brilliant contribution to his memory’s, this could have been heard more. But the one moment that summed up the whole solo was when he laid his head on a hand as he sung a traditional African folk chant, it signified the importance of a human hand and how it can trigger the rooted identities in us. The hand is a source of many things from igniting peace settlements between countries in a hand shake to showing wedlock.