Terra Firma, NDCWales

May 15, 2018 by

The Terra Firma triple bill does not disappoint with three very different dances including two that I have seen before and a new work.

The programme started with Caroline Finn’s Folk, then the work that is new to me, Mario Bermundez-Gil’s Atalaÿ and concluded with Marcos Morau’s Tundra that I saw as part of the P.A.R.A.D.E event at Wales Millennium Centre last year. They are all lit the award-winning lighting designer Joe Fletcher.

 

Tundra

 

Folk

 

 

Folk is dominated by the roots of a tree or perhaps an upside down suspended tree? The choreography from Caroline Finn is sometimes group work, looking at what other character are doing, and then explosions of individuality, including some spoken (or screamed) words.

Atalaÿ four has dancers Julia Reider, Nikita Goile,Ed Myhill and Mathew Prichard in what resemble Turkish costumes and that is, of course, the feel of the dance, punchy, fast-moving, rhythmic, and hot.

Tundra is quite different on the Riverfront stage, perhaps also because we have several new dancers in a company that does has quite a large turnover of artists and has apprentices who stay for one year as part of their studies.

Tundra, that was a part of the P.A.R.A.D.E. event is a very stylised dance with intricate gestures and movements that create patterns and designs that delight the eye. You can see why this delighted judges when choosing who to give coveted awards to at the Wales Theatre Awards.

Yes, another exciting and thoroughly enjoyable evening of dance from NDCWales.

 

A taster for Atalaÿ:

https://vimeo.com/255382374

 

Atalaÿ’s choreographer talks about his work:

Mario Bermudez Gil: Choreographer of Atalaÿ, NDCWales

 

For the rest of the tour dates visit:  ndcwales.com

 

Leave a Reply