Dance Umbrella -Change Tempo, Brixton House, London

Choreographers: Linda Hayford, Calixto Neto and Joy Alpuerto Ritter

Dance Umbrella has partnered with Brixton House as part of the 44th DANCE UMBRELLA 2022 and continue to bring together international dance performers and groups to various venues across London, including for the first time this year Brixton House. Its aim this year is to celebrate 21st century choreography across the capital and tonight’s performance brings together three performances under the title Change Tempo, which explores the themes of transformation, transition and representation. The performances take place in the main stage with minimal sets to an enthusiastic audience

The initial work, Shapeshifting, choreographed and performed by Linda Hayford, is an evocative one. Hayford stares ahead using her body and every muscle and tendon to transform herself into a mystical beast and is mesmerising from the start. Body popping, she slowly moves stealthily across the floor toward the focus lit only by a single beam. From there she becomes transfixed on the floor, seeming to have lightning shooting through her popping arms and hands down through the earth, shifting her shape to the lulls and crescendos of the music and finally looking up directly at the audience in a powerful piece. The audience truly feels it has been taken on an amazing journey on the reflection of the changing nature of self and identity.

Following straight on comes Calixto Neto and his dance O Samba Do Crioulo Doido, a radical piece first written by his Brazilian compatriot Luiz de Abreu, who sadly became partially sighted before lockdown but worked with Neto in choreographing this 2020 version. The background is a lit screen of Brazilian flags and Neto comes out onto the stage lit from behind, naked apart from a fierce pair of glittering high heeled knee boots. From the start this is a thought-provoking piece challenging through humour and dance how black Brazilians are represented and categorised. As we stare he stares back and starts to clench and release every muscle and tendon in his body, clenching his stomach so far in it feels as if he is in pain or suffering from ravenous hunger. He does not stop there but continues down his body making the audience concentrate on his penis and buttocks, his nakedness and what it means. Neto grabs the national flag as a prop and starts dancing using a range of music and tempo from festival to a feeling of 70s Miss World where he adorns bright red lips, challenging gender and sexuality. A powerful and brave performance.

Finally, Joy Alpuerto Ritter perform BABAE, a word that means ‘woman’ in Tagalog (a Philippine language). Ritter lets the audience witness an ancient and intimate ritual, seemingly only known to her but has an obvious connection to mother earth. Her only props on stage are five earthenware pots carried on her head in solidarity with women having had to do this for millennia in a suggestion of endless female sacrifices. She contorts her hands and body, covers her face with her hair and uses her hands to create birds who seem to be pecking at her and prostates herself contorting her legs and body to the floor to become an earthly creature, spider- like. The music ranges from her roots in the Philippines, folk dance, classical through to hip hop and vogue. The journey seems to celebrate life’s spiritual journey. When Ritter has a spotlight directed straight at her she delves into a pot and throws glitter around her body which sparkles and seems to dance in time and tune with her body and then more is thrown up into her hair. Although this does not feel the most honed piece of dance of the three, it ends an exceptional night of talent.

Runs until October 13th 2022