Arts Award Reviews: Kaja Bruce
As part of the Arts Award, our students have to go and see something, review it, and then share it. First one to go public is Kaja Bruce. Please read her review, and if you have any questions or messages for her, please tweet @BeaumontMusic and we will pass them on.
Thanks for reading!
On the evening of the 16th of May, my family and I went to
see Rojas and Rodriguez’ Titanium in the Peacock. The show was a fusion of
urban dance and flamenco with live music especially written and researched to
fit the different dance styles. The music was a typical flamenco music (the
singer was a professional) but it had a hip-hop beat.
The idea of the merging of the two different styles came
from The Ballet Nuevo Espanol’s artistic directors, Angel Rojas and Carlos
Rodriguez; they felt that these two dance styles have more in common than you
might think: both were born on the streets, both show raw attitude and both
have had a history of dance battles. Titanium has won a National Dance Award in
Spain and high praise in a tour across Europe. My family and I really enjoyed
this production, the music and the dancing.
The show started with a dancer moving across the stage tied
by ropes, trying to break free from the ropes (or metaphorically the shackles
of dance rules). The other dancers tried to assist and whilst releasing the
man, found themselves tied up but working as a group and were able to break
free and take over the stage with their various styles. I loved the use of
props in this part. The rest of the show included duets, trios and group
performances, the dancers occasionally mixing with the four musicians. There
was some attempt at a story during the show, however the only part that made
sense was when there was a dance battle amongst the two different styles of
dance. The dancers flexibility, fluidity and muscular ability however, was
incredible, and something that I have never seen before. At one point, a dancer
had his back to the audience and his movement was intriguing because it looked
almost alien. This was the most memorable part of the performance for me.
Although there was no interval in the show, nobody noticed
as the audience was fully focussed on the breathtaking dancing. The dance,
music, vocals and lighting, all came together perfectly to form a perfect whole
that proved that you can successfully merge such different dance styles. The
dancers were all so talented and you could see how much work that the show must
have had for it to work together. I really enjoyed this production and the
merging of different styles.
