An hour-long piece, three
talented women give a snapshot of the lives of young people living in shared
accommodation through the medium of contemporary dance.
'DONUTS' is a play by Extended Play, choreography by Jamaal Burkmar and featuring music from Jameszoo. This is the first full length piece by Burkmar, who is also the creator of JUKEBOX, an Instagram series combining popular music with dance. I was frustrated not to find the names of the three dancers online.
'DONUTS' shares moments taken from the lives of three young women living together, the initial dance sequence introducing the characters took over 20mins, a third of the piece before the drama occurred. The crisis was that one of them was about to leave, thus destroying their close dynamic. This resulted in upset and tensions between the three.
The classic references I would use to compare with are DV8 Physical Theatre Company and maybe Rambert Dance, in that the piece was long sequences of contemporary dance but recognisable mundane characters and relatable everyday scenarios. For many young fellow students in the audience there were moments that resulted in laughter as they recognised themselves at certain moments, but for those of us long past our student days it was less relatable.
The audio was for me a jarring factor that deterred from my enjoyment of the piece, at several points the volume was so loud and at a tone that I found almost unbearable that I was tempted to leave the space. The music by Jameszoo gave an energetic vibe and was very evocative of free movement improvisation workshops. But I unfortunately wasn’t ready for it on a Friday evening and found the loudness abrasive; morteover it didn’t compliment the action was that was happening in the story of 'Donuts'.
I commend the talent of the three
dancers and hope to see more of Extended Play and
Burkmar, who is definitely a promising young talent in the world of choreography.
Reviewer - Kerry Ely
on - 11.2.22
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