Into The Dark

Presented by Probe
Leap Dance Festival
Unity Theatre
11th March 2006

Reviewed by Helen Grey

This event was a new concept for the Leap Festival. Billed as ‘Leap Into the Dark’, the evening’s events were only revealed on the night, and quality was the only thing they guaranteed. Quality was most definitely delivered through an hour-long programme consisting of three exceptional duets.

The first - choreographed by Rafael Bonachela, who worked with Kylie Minogue on her 'Show Girl' tour - explored the tenderness of relationships between men and women. Theo Clinkard and Antonia Grove - who performed all three dances - displayed some fantastic movements while examining how the sexes interact with each other. Dressed in black and spot lit with shafts of light, the dancers were at their strongest when they danced together, displaying a variety of lifts and gravity defying moves. There was more then a hint of sexual attraction when Clinkard and Grove's hands moved over each other’s bodies.

The highlight of the second dance - which was a series of dances for two people called ‘Cut Ups’ - was the section called ‘Hands’. The two dancers stood in front of a light projector, with their shadows cast against a white screen, and created a series of dances for their hands. This innovative twist was choreographed by Lea Anderson and was humorous and playful.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs provided the soundtrack to the last dance - ‘Fever To Tell”. In contrast to the first piece, this high-energy dance looked at the passion and rawness that can exist within relationships. Grove wore green, which perhaps reflected the jealously that can often surface between a man and a women.

This production was choreographed, performed and lit to an exceptionally high standard. It was a shame therefore that the theatre was only half full.