Review: Until the Lions (DANCE)

I've never been to see contemporary dance before this. Never ever. And, I didn't choose to go, it just so happened that I was taken. Sometimes, (and I believe I had forgotten this) it's good to go and see something you might not have bought tickets for otherwise. Step outside what you know you do like for sure, and take some risks.

Until the Lions is the latest offering from the dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. Now, to people in the know about dance, this is a big deal, but me being me, this name meant nothing to me, which meant I sat down for the performance with no expectations. The show is currently on at the Round House in London. (And by currently, I mean, this evening is the last performance. So this information is very helpful for you. BUT it might actually be helpful, as if he does anything in the future near you, or this tours you might be inclined to see it, after I basically write in so many words that 'I like it'.)

The performance is a re-telling of a Sanskrit epic of ancient India, called Mahabharata. (Feel free to google it to understand the story. This was something I did after seeing the performance.) I don't want to talk about the story they told, or what it is about. I want to talk about the overall performance from the lighting to the singers.

The stage design was beautiful and ever so clever. It was the cross-section of a larger tree, with cracks that grew as the tension in the story grew larger and larger. The design of the stage plays an important role in the very end of the performance, with lighting and fog adding an extra level of theatrics. Now, although I thought this was of a pretty high standard, the sound was as good, if not better. It seems that Khan truly understands the necessity of collaborating with people who truly know their art forms. What I can say of Under the Lions is that it was a whole production. Everything worked as one, the dancing, the staging, the music. In particular I have to mention the female singer, named Sohini Alam who was fantastic. There are so many adjectives I could use, but I'll just stick with that one. Her musical projects are definitely worth searching and listening to.

All in all, if you have never thought about watching contemporary dance before, I would definitely give it a try. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it as much as I did. (I cried!)

Review: Champagne Life (EXHIBITION)

A little quick note about Champagne Life the current exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. Practical information first: the gift shop is great. It ends 9th March 2016. It is a completely female show with the works of 14 artists. One of the first of its kind. (Surprisingly perhaps? Something that I feel should have happened already, and possibly doesn't need as much hype as its received in terms of the gender of the artists, as at times, it can feel a little patronising.)

In any case, the overall exhibition was enjoyable, with a large mix of disciplines and a variety of practices on show. I'm not going to go into detail about the exhibition, except that it's worth a wonder around if you have a free afternoon. (This venue, as always is free - so you loose nothing.)

Before I go, just want to talk about the piece pictured above. This is a close up from Maha Malluh's work, (Untitled, Food for Thought Series) 2016. For me, this piece was above and beyond the rest. Visually, it is very striking and it's position in the gallery really led you into the room. Once you were in, and got to actually inspect what you were faced with, you saw that these were pots. 233 individual, used, cooking pots. Some were massive that could have fed a family of 10. Others were smaller, and perhaps fed 3. There's always something very powerful about experiencing something en masse. And here was no exception. The artist is from Saudi Arabia, and there was something that was really lovely about appropriating her culture into her work that wasn't overt or overtook the message. There's a lovely piece of maths that was written in an article by The Guardian which you can read here.

Rachel Cooke writes:

"In front of me were 233 such pots. If each one had once belonged to a family of five, who ate together perhaps once a day for a year, then this display represented the cooking of 425,225 meals – at which point these dented vessels seemed to take on the lustre of priceless objects."

There was something quite mesmerising about this work, that I'm finding quite hard to articulate (which is very helpful for you.) But, if you're unable to go and see the work yourself, then give it a google and have a stare. I think it's really worth a couple of moments of your time.