It’s impossible not to admire the energy, enthusiasm and sheer entrepreneurialism that Jamiel Devernay-Laurence has brought to his Ballet Nights programmes. Ministry of Sound, a well known nightclub in the centre of London, might at first have seemed like an unlikely venue to present an evening of sophisticated dance but with imagination and a little courage, it proved to be an eye opener on many fronts.
This was perhaps a bit of an experiment which might benefit from some tweaking, but the overriding feeling was that Devernay-Laurence has unleashed his own brand of cabaret performance on an audience that are only too happy to lap it up. Judging by the jostling of this mostly youthful crowd (although I am reliably informed that the first ticket was sold to an 84-year old!), being close to the dancers was hugely appealing.
“Ballet Nights: New Voices” comprised ten short contemporary pieces from an array of artists with very different backgrounds. The first three pieces were performed in The 103/Bar, beginning with Seirian Griffiths in Show Opener. He’s a graduate of Rambert School, who has worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre and BalletBoyz and pretty much defies being labelled as a street/break dancer as he looks as if he can do just about anything. Flexible and daring, the show was off to a rip-roaring start.
Watson & Woodvine followed with their own Your Ghost, using two different levels of the club: a brief but welcome look at these two fluid movers. Next were four dancers in Gathering Rhythms by Manon Servage and Sophie Quay who were joined in the space by Zach Parkin and Ivan Merino Gaspar. Somehow managing, through a series of bendy movements, to switch jackets with one another, this was clever, if not completely absorbing.
For the fourth piece, the dancing was moved to The Box/Clubroom. Devernay-Laurence presented his own Spirit Of The Machine with Liam Woodvine and Alexander Fadayiro. This is when actually seeing the dancers became a challenge. With the audience standing up close around the small stage, obscuring the lower half of the bodies, I opted to go upstairs to view the stage through a window. Not ideal, but I could at least see the choreography. I didn’t get that it was, “an exploration of how memory could be used by a dystopian society as a form of punishment”, but it was beautifully danced and well crafted.
Award winning James Cousins created Jealousy for his company dancers Brenda Lee Grecht and Tom Davis Dunn. A duet about an imagined affair, the stage was bathed in a pinkish red light that all but concealed whatever was going on. I could decipher lithe bodies, moving with grace but was unable to make any kind of real assessment. Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser performed their own Splice to music by Floating Points. Very striking looks and statuesque movements were compelling but again, it wasn’t completely visible.
Nicholas Shoesmith’s Insomnia, performed by Felicity Chadwick was a highlight of the evening. She is a dancer who moves with broad brush strokes and this choreography allowed her the opportunity to expand and breathe with hugely satisfying outcomes. She was followed by another special performance by The Royal Ballet’s Joshua Junker. In a solo called 324a, which he created during lockdown, he was sublime, embodying his own choreography, which unsurprisingly, fitted like a glove.
In the penultimate piece, Kennedy Junior Muntanga performed his own One to the live drumming of Guy Salim (Devernay-Laurence’s brother). Both gave compelling performances of equal strength and power. The show closed with James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight in Nerve Wire. This choreographic duo, who also happen to be supremely good dancers, has been well-documented on Bachtrack. Having seen Nerve Wire before, it was no less mesmerising than previously and a really good way to end the night.
Devernay-Laurence gave his usual and charismatic delivery of commentary throughout and while the venue does have problems in terms of sight lines – there is a good deal of potential for trying out further productions. The crowd were unquestionably thrilled with their experience and there is no doubt that this was a fresh and vibrant look at captivating new audiences.
Things that could be improved would be moving the onlookers back from the very front of the stage, so that people at the back don’t just glimpse a bunch of bobbing heads; turning the volume down a fraction and using the lighting to enhance the dancers, rather than as a distraction.
These teething problems aside, I’ve got to be honest, I had a ball.
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