Marikiscrycrycry: DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London

Choreographer: Malik Nashad Sharpe

There is ear-splitting, dissonant music with relentless bass and drums, haze so thick it could be a London pea-souper, and finally, into pools of stark white light, a dancer emerges, a man in a slinky spaghetti-strap dress. He follows pathways of light and finds a second dancer, this one in cut-off jeans and a bandana. Their movements are stabbing, repetitive, hinting at breakdancers’ street savvy strut. They are joined by another man and three women who arrive from the audience, suddenly illuminated halfway up a side aisle. The six throw shapes and stare down the audience, then find the seventh member of the troupe curled up on a speaker, a man in violet harem pants.

Marikiscrycrycry is the dance company bringing this programme, entitled DARK, HAPPY, to the CORE, to the Lillian Baylis Studio of Sadler’s Wells Theatre. It is also the stage name of choreographer Malik Nashad Sharpe, who brings a very personal vision of post-apocalyptic club-going to the intimate stage. The hour-long show consists of three movements, some spectacular solo dances, a couple of pas des deux between two of the male dancers, and a lot of ensemble patterns, all packed with attitude and a sort of louche aggression.

The evening feels like being stuck in a nightclub at the end of the world, dancers emerging from thick haze, striking a pose, indulging in quick-fire stuttering movements and disappearing back into the murk. The lighting is entirely stark white side light and vertical top light, interspersed with sequences of strobing bars of dazzling LEDs that render the movements more staccato yet.

There is a shifting tonality throughout the evening, but the bass-heavy music never stops, the fog thickens, the stabbing white lights illuminate different spaces and pathways, but the mood rarely changes. Marikiscrycrycry challenges, confronts, and impresses. They take the audience on a difficult journey that is ultimately ecstatic and compelling. It’s a fully packed, stressful, remarkable hour of movement.

Runs until 8 November 2024