Interplay – Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield

Choreographers: James Pett, Travis Clausen-Knight, Ed Myhill, Camille Giraudeau, Marcus Jarrell Willis and Yusha-Marie Sorzano

Interplay (noun) – the action between two or more things or the effect they have on each other.

A fitting title for Phoenix Dance’s 2026 tour.

Interplay brings together four very different but related dance pieces. It is an evening all about connections: how we make them, how they feel and how we react to their loss.

Next of Kin (Marcus Jarrell Willis) is an antagonistic, competitive but ultimately supportive duet between what can reasonably be assumed to be two siblings, with a shadowy authoritarian mother figure standing motionless behind them. It is full of frantic but defined movement, giving an immediate childlike energy. Dancers Rory Clarke and Graciela Mariqueo-Smith have a wonderful cohesion even when working against each other, and their vigour is infectious.

Why Are People Clapping?! (Ed Myhill, restaged by Camille Giraudeau) uses the music found in our bodies, with the simple act of clapping almost controlling and provoking the movements. There is such a sense of joy from the five performers, a feeling of freedom and experimentation even as precision is paramount for the effect to land. A section made up entirely of facial and head movements is especially effective, toeing the line between grotesque and humorous. The piece gets the heart racing and the toes tapping.

Small Talk (Pett Clausen Knight) is a radical change of pace. While the other pieces are all general contemporary dance this is specifically contemporary ballet. A couple in a dark room, with a single chair, a standard lamp and a massive 10-foot carpet. There are moments of love and passion, perhaps even co-dependency, but ultimately the audience are watching a relationship decline with the passage of time. It is sombre, intense and suffocating; heartachingly, beautifully so. Dancers Yasmina Patel and Dylan Springer look pained and raw as they perform this duet, interacting not only each other but with each of the set pieces. The lighting, the music, the costumes – all combine with the choreography to create the most memorable piece of the entire showcase.

Finally, the whole second act is comprised of Suite Release (Yusha-Marie Sorzano and Marcus Jarrell Willis). A musing on the loss of shared spaces for communal movement, the piece juxtaposes isolation with community and the effect both have on the psyche. Using influences of HipHop and House club culture, and by extension the experiences of the largely black communities that populate such spaces, this is a celebration tinged with loss. The beat is so deep that the audience can feel it in their chests, adding to the experience. The lighting creates patches of beams and shadows and picks out the bodies of the nine dancers beautifully.

Interplay is a wonderful example of the power of dance. It contains so many messages about people and places and how we engage with both. There is joy, pain, loss, hope, conflict and support all up on the stage before our eyes. A whirlwind evening, which sticks in the mind as you go about the rest of your day. Phoenix Dance are a company that are constantly innovating and putting out high quality shows which challenge their audiences, and Interplay may be one of the best they have ever toured. Highly recommended.

Reviewed on Thursday 28 May 2026