The auditorium at Sadler’s Wells East is transformed as the seats are pushed back and curtained off. A few chairs and beanbags invite you to sit, otherwise it’s standing.
I opted to take position towards the back, where I could watch both performers and audience. FREE is an experience all are invited to join.
Toussaint To Move, started by artistic director and choreographer Akeim Toussaint Buck, aims to challenge, entertain and enlighten audiences through movement.
Informed by methodologies as diverse as capoeira, kickboxing and hip hop, the movement of Toussaint To Move has both grace and danger. It’s about improvising while following pre-determined paths. The choreography for FREE is by Akeim Toussaint Buck in collaboration with his dancers.
There are five professional dancers on the stage (Aline Simo Kamga, Francesca Matthys, Jemima Tawose, Márcio Inácio, and Manukaa Tony Kaaba), and their synergy, energy and chemistry sets out sparks for the evening.
Billed as immersive, one might expect few barriers, but dancers (mostly) from Academy Breakin’ Convention form a line between us and Toussaint To Move’s quintet for much of the hour.
Their job is to encourage and maintain our involvement, but it’s when one of the professionals breaks through and interacts with the audience, FREE becomes a truly cathartic and communal experience.
The music is reggae, jazz and more, performed by Buck’s band Buck and The Magnificence. It offers a pulse and power it is hard to ignore, with most of the audience responding to the invitation to “rise up”.
Communication is key. Voices, gestures, symbols. Traditional African paraphernalia hangs from the roof together with an illuminated cross. Chants talk of freedom. Bodies are grabbed, mouths are silenced.
FREE feels more about the human spirit than anything else. It takes the Black experience and pulls it out of historical context into the here and now. Despite the barriers, the seeing of snatches of movement, the curated chaos, this is a show that captures and claims attention.
I’m giving this 4.5*.
Toussaint To Move: FREE is at Sadler’s Wells East until 8 Nov, with details and tickets here.
Image credit: Solomon Charles-Kelly
Read my interview with Akeim Toussaint Buck.
Check out Toussaint To Move’s YouTube channel for more from the company.