Currently celebrating a fifth anniversary, Andrew McNicol’s Ballet Collective is touring with a programme of extracts from three titles previously seen (Bates Beats (2021), Moonbend (2023) and Of Silence (2021)) plus a new work, Liquid Life.
Founded during the pandemic, the McNicol Ballet Collective has a neoclassical feel, and is driven by the music selected or commissioned to develop the piece.
Eight dancers take part in this new show (Gabriel Posada Arango, Winnie Dias, Laura Flugel, Theo Greenfield, Hamish Longley, Giulia Neri, Casey Nokomis Pereira, and James Stephens), with Liquid Life and Of Silence making the strongest impact.
Bates Beats, set to the music of Mason Bates, is perhaps the closest to traditional ballet in look and feel, but I found it difficult to connect to what the excerpts were trying to say.
It is certainly lively, and the costumes with their disc-style skirts stand out, but while giving individual dancers a chance to shine and show what they can do, it does not feel cohesive or dramatic enough to stand this piecemeal approach.
I was drawn to Moonbend by the idea of utilising music by indie singer/songwriter Perfume Genius alongside interesting costumes suggesting the fetish and gay culture scene.
It is an exploration of the body, led by Theo Greenfield in glitter pants as he interacts with first one, and then many other bodies in an intense physical sense of connection.
Of Silence is set to the work of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks and comprises a reflective duet between Dias and Stephens, as the music is sung on stage by VOCES8 Choral Ensemble).
The cohesion between the two live performances allows the beauty and connection between dancers and voices to take flight, although again, I would have been interested to see the whole piece.
After the interval, which allows us to reflect on what we have already seen, Liquid Life is introduced with a short behind-the-scenes film by Nauris Buksevics describing the process of commissing the score and working with a living composer in a true collaboration of ideas.
What Liquid Life, developed with dramaturg Lou Cope, is trying to say seems to be a meditation of the highs and lows of the human life, as experiences and people come and go.
A sense of transience is suggested in a score that is very modern and often challenging, with Yaron Abulafia‘s lighting of reds and occasional greens adding atmosphere.
Taken as a whole, Here & Now celebrates a company and choreographer that continues to develop an intriguing and diverse body of work.
With a rotating roster of dancers and artists, the programmes created by Andrew McNicol and his collaborators offer fresh perspectives including short dance films to add a new perspective to modern ballet choreography.
This is the first time I have seen the Collective perform live, and I am very interested to see more from them.
Here & Now has one more performance at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds on 12 Apr. You can find out more about the McNicol Ballet Collective’s work on their website.
3.5 stars.
Image credit: Photography by ASH.