Review of Double Points: K and Supernova 2008-2009
Double Points: K reviews
“The jewel in Morag Deyes’ crown this year, Rosie Kay Dance Company is a joy to watch from beginning to end. Drawing heavily on Double Points: Two by genius Italian choreographer Emio Greco, Double Points: K is a powerful duet set to an eclectic mix of music. Like Greco, Kay has a captivating on-stage presence, mixing long leg and arm extensions with fast, jerking movement. Dancing in perfect unison with partner Morgan Cloud, she covers the stage with so much choreography, we’re full to bursting by the end. As bleeping dance music gives way to classical, Kay and Cloud never let the pace drop. Whether they’re side-by-side or across the floor from each other, their connection is palpable. A Fringe must-see for all dance fans.” The Scotsman, Kelly Apter, August 2008
“No such problems for Rosie Kay and Morgan Cloud in Double Points: K. Based on a work by Emio Greco/PC – the original was part of the Edinburgh Festival programme in 2001 – this exacting duet is an Everest of synchronicity, timing, defined body lines and stamina. All this, and an adherence to Greco’s mantras of breathing and the dynamic relationship between forms. Double Points is not about emotional interactions, indeed in its own way it’s as much about parallels (mirror images, echoes, amplifications) as McConnell’s “other-worldly” construct. For Kay, this choreographic re-interpretation is a triumph. Catch it if you can.” Mary Brennan, The Herald, August 2008
“Thank goodness, then, for the inimitable diva of dance, ROSIE KAY. Her last show at the Fringe, The Wild Party, was a hoot and Double Points: K, though is entirely different, is just as exciting. A reinterpretation of Emio Greco’s acclaimed Double Points: Two, this duet- danced by Kay and Morgan Cloud- is high energy, thrilling, pure contemporary dance. To a score that shifts from Bach to electro, Kay and Cloud begin on demi pointe, working up and down a narrow strip of light. From here we’re treated to a glorious mish-mash, from contemporary ballet to juddering robotic movement. At one point she lunges forward and spins one arm so fast she is transformed into a human Catherine Wheel (the fireworks replaced by showers of perspiration). It’s a perfect vehicle for Kay’s capacity for great explosive drama married with technical precision.” Chitra Ramaswamy, Scotland on Sunday, August 2008
“On to Rosie Kay, and the second piece of abstract dance (the duet ‘Double Points: K’) is a great reminder of what a wonderful dancer she is, and movement choreographed to JS Bach (one of three scores) was particularly breathtaking in its simplicity. One thing is for sure; I will never listen to that great composer in the same way again.” Three Weeks. August 2008
Full Review in Ballet-Dance.co.uk by David Mead
Following her successful foray into dance theatre with The Wild Party” rising choreographer Rosie Kay’s latest programme sees a return to a contemporary dance aesthetic. “Double Points: K’ came out of time she spent with choreographers Emio Greco and Pieter Sholten and is inspired by their work “Double Points: Two”. In it, Kay and her partner Morgan Cloud seem to be on some sort of journey. Initially, the couple move along a single, diagonal strip of light that divides the stage. They circle and pass each other. There is a constant feeling of edginess and tension, emphasised throughout by the sudden changes in the music, from J.S. Bach to the electronica of Louis Price and others.
Throughout the work, Kay and Cloud showed an amazing togetherness. Some sections called for split second timing, which they achieved superbly. Kay calls this ‘synchronicity’, which can perhaps be best explained as two people dancing as one and with one mind, rather than as two in unison. It’s also clearly an intensely demanding piece physically. In a powerful ending, the pair stand facing the audience, the silence broken only by their heavy breathing, before continuing their travels to who knows where. The fact the duet completely held the attention for thirty minutes probably says more than any words about the choreography and the dancers concerned.
Supernova may not have quite the same close relationship as “Double Points: Two” and Double Points: K, but there is certainly a family resemblance. Although ‘Supernova’ takes its inspiration from time, space, energy and matter, fashioned into the physical and personal, there are clear movement links to the first work of the evening. Having said that, Supernova does stand alone, and, unlike when the two Double Points works were performed together, this programme makes for a more than satisfying evening of dance.
Kay has clearly been reading up on her supernovae since, while the work doesn’t attempt to literally replicate what astronomers might see, it does incorporate many of the elements of these stella phenomena. Right from the very beginning, the five dancers swirl round with great energy; then suddenly and unexpectedly they stop, precariously balanced on one leg as if on the edge of some abyss. Reflecting the way supernovae often collapse in on themselves or reignite, the dancers are often drawn to the centre and expelled outwards again, sometimes collapsing into nothing before bursting back into life.
Kay’s young dancers, although a little nervous at first, brought freshness and energy to the choreography. There were occasions when the group work seemed to need a little tightening up, but this was only the second performance, and in a non-traditional theatre space. But they really did show us moments of chaos and moments of togetherness; bursts of great energy and times of stillness. It is just this contrast that makes the work so interesting. As is often the way, it is the still moments that linger in the mind afterwards, but they need those fast, frantic sections to do so.
The connections between the two works go deeper than the movement though. Kay proves that it is possible to make good, accessible dance that is clearly and unashamedly based in technique. It’s quite refreshing to see a small and still relatively new company that does not feel the need to resort to gimmicks or shock tactics. And for good measure, both works are intensely musical too.
David Mead, Ballet-dance.co.uk October 14, 2008, Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon
Guardian Guide Preview
March 21st 2009
Rosie Kay dance Company: Double Points: K / Supernova
“Feisty Rosie Kay has created her latest work, Supernova, for five women dancers, celebrating their grace and power in a patterning of pure dance. Its inspiration was the idea of the energy that flares out of dying stars, and there is a fragility, or impermanence within the raw physicality of the piece that is reflected in the works’ soundtrack, layering astral chimes with segments of Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosse in D minor and Drum’n’Bass. Preceding this is Double Points: K, a duet based on a collaboration between Kay and Dutch-based choreographer Emio Greco, and now danced by Kay and Morgan Cloud. Again the music is a brashy mix: Bach’s concerto in A minor comes meshed with dubstep and electronica.”
Judith Mackrell
