Original score: Tim Dickinson and Sophy Smith
Choreographer: Kevin Finnan and the original cast
Since its inception in 1988, Motionhouse has become one of the world’s great dance companies. With their distinctive dance-circus style, they create a very physical form of movement designed to engage and bring 
out emotions in the audience. Nobody epitomises that style absolutely, presenting yet another multi-sensory show that hits the mark.
First though, there’s a little warm-up treat. Members of Hippodrome’s Education Network, which comprises schools and colleges across the region, show a short piece that they have conceived and devised based on their reaction to Nobody. It’s coordinated by Motionhouse’s rehearsal director Junior Cunningham, but mostly choreographed by the students themselves – and it serves to show what a wealth of young talent there is out there. Engaging with young people like this gives them confidence and develops them as dancers, helping to create the artists and audiences of the future. What we see proves that – talent-wise at least – the future of dance is bright.
Then the main event. Nobody, a fast-moving and physical piece exploring the tension between our inner voices and our behaviour and the persona that we show to the world. Although it was originally conceived before the pandemic, much of the work has been created during it and it has been very clearly influenced by our collective experiences.
It starts with a stage dominated by a massive cube, a cube that later reveals itself to be a frame covered in a stretchy fabric. Behind is a large video screen, and for a good while this is the entire set. It’s a minimalist design by Simon Dormon that works perfectly within the context of the piece.
We see a cityscape, deserted. Slowly they appear – crows. For a while, they are the only form of life visible in this deserted world, like a vision of some post-apocalyptic landscape. Then humans appear, but seldom together, and quickly disperse, leaving individuals alone again with the constant presence of the crows, our inner voices. Whenever someone tries to do something, they’re there, obstructing, deflecting. The screen shows a large group at a party, a sense of normality, but the dancer can’t reach it. There’s a restaurant but there’s no way in. Everything feels unsettled, disjointed, a sense of loneliness and a lack of connection. The frame becomes like a cage, creating an increasing sense of being trapped as the world moves around you, outside your control, feeling lost and alone in the landscape – alone apart from our constant inner voice.
Then transformation, as the world changes. The sense of distancing from the world is gone, as people start to come together, finding strength in mutual support. Movement is more fluid, and there’s no more feeling of the world outside being out of reach, with a more secure sense of balance and trust, reaching out for help and getting it, our inner voices no longer the dominant force.
Motionhouse’s fusion of dance and circus styles is displayed with their usual skill in a show that’s packed with visual magic. The dancers show enormous precision and strength as they use and manipulate the frame, the frame that’s at times a house, or a cage, or a climbing frame and balance beam. When covered in fabric it stretches and warps our perception of what we’re seeing, creating a very effective centrepiece for the work. Nobody is classic Motionhouse – dance, circus, a visual treat that evokes emotions and memories in the viewer – and at the end of the day, that’s exactly what dance should do.
Reviewed on 4 February 2022 and on tour
