Director/Choreographer: Qudus Onikeku
Music Director and Composer: Olatunde Obajeun
The QDance Company are a Nigerian dance company, under the artistic direction of Qudus Onikeku, who returned to Nigeria in 2014 after a decade of training and working in France to set up the QDance Centre to identify and develop dance talent. He worked with the company of dancers performing in Re:Incarnation for six years, before its debut at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris in 2021.
This long lead-in could account for the rich texture of much of the dancing which seems to arise very naturally from the individual characteristics of the dancers, rather than being imposed upon them. On the other hand, it might beneficially have led to more succinct story telling.
The style is a mixture of African traditional dance, hip-hop, acrobatics and elements of contemporary dance and it is performed by an energetic and talented young company. This is not, however, just a breezily colourful celebration of Nigerian culture. It takes itself much more seriously than that, seeking to explore much deeper and more universal themes.
It begins with an involving ensemble section on the theme of difference, characterised by street dance idioms, bright colours and imaginative physical interaction. It then turns to the subject of sex, thus leading into representations of birth as the first stage in its cycle of life, death and rebirth.
The mix of dance styles has both positive and negative outcomes. The ensemble dances with great heart, always leaving room for individuality, which brings real freshness to the traditional or street sections but works less well when using the more formal language of contemporary dance, where a purist might look for more consistency of technique. Of course, this is extremely subjective, as the observer must decide to what extent the merger of styles creates something entirely new that may have to be judged by different criteria.
The section on life depicts suffering, war and discrimination and includes some extended solo dances. These are visceral pieces, and clearly deeply felt, though at times the vocabulary of dance used seems not to be extensive enough to justify their length.
Some powerful and highly effective duets and trios follow in the section on death, where traditional dance, sinuous and highly inventive interaction combine to give a spellbinding, mystical.
Approaching rebirth, one dancer recites a litany of proverbs and received wisdom, as all the dancers smear themselves in something like oil to represent the blackening of the fire that cleanses the dead for rebirth. They then work as an occasionally fragmenting ensemble in an atavistic and disturbing, if somewhat overlong, climactic sequence.
Through the evening’s uninterrupted ninety-minute runtime, admirable support comes from Olatunde Obajeun’s powerful and often beautiful score combining multiskilled live musicians, Simeon Promise Lawrence and Daniel Ifeanyi Anumudu, with recorded elements. Effective lighting by Michel Abdallah sets the mood and makes imaginative use of shadows.
Overall, this an interesting and laudably ambitious piece of dance fusion, with real invention and many fascinating elements.
Tours until 19 October 2024
The Reviews Hub Score
Intriguing Dance Fusion
