A short, 15-minute dance presentation took place this afternoon in The Lowry Gallery of Manchester's Art Gallery, performed by the first year students on the UCEN / Manchester College Dancing course.
The girls (one imagines them to be about 17 years of age) all wore their black dance leotards and were tasked by their tutor to choreograph and devise short pieces themselves on the title 'Nebbia' (Italian for 'fog'). I am uncertain as to why this performance took place in the Lowry Gallery in the Art Gallery, since none of the paintings, nor indeed the idea of being inside a gallery was ever referenced. It could easily have been performed in any space, anywhere.
The first group were four girls working well together, followed by a group of three more girls. Four more followed with their own piece, and then the last three girls had their turn in the spotlight. All used backing tracks and performed contemporary ballet style dance. The choreographies were well thought out and all had used some lovely imagery, combining floor work with a couple of lifts. The inventiveness and creativity impressed me, and their coordination and togetherness was always good. It was the fourth group however who impressed the most, as they seemed to have embraced the idea of 'nebbia' the most, creating a sense of iminent danger as their dance swirled, enveloped and threatened.
To conclude, all 14 dancers came together to dance their final piece, which again had excellent use of space and ensemble. I loved the use of stillness in this section. Their focus (considering the venue etc) was remarkable, and despite it only lasting 15 minutes, was a very enjoyable and well-thought out piece of contemporary dance.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 29.3.23
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