Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
Following on from last year’s Fusion is no mean feat. Putting on a production with over 150 models and dancers showcasing their talents and clothes supplied by retailers and student designers from across the North-East (alongside a pumping soundtrack and society cameos) is quite the endeavour, but a worthwhile one judging by last night's performance and the generous amounts raised for charity.
This year’s theme of 'Playing Games' allowed for a smooth narrative and plenty of excellent mini storylines. Hayley Thompson’s Toybox dance could not have been a more effective and exciting beginning to the whole show, with the dancers’ individual characterisation and the combination of dance styles creating a sense of intrigue to what the rest of the show may contain. DanceSoc’s Geeks vs. Cool Kids was hilarious; the brief budding school romance between two geeks was transformed by a superbly choreographed and convincingly acted dance coup led by the cool kids. The skipping dance that followed was brilliantly executed; the dancers must have been absolutely exhausted but certainly didn’t show it as their energy in the scene was positively contagious.
Other scenes that deserve special mention include the popping/crumping Mario dance, which combined some brilliantly emotive music and creative choreography that managed to recreate those distinct movements Mario makes in the games. The Ballet Chess was beautiful, and whilst less pumping than the preceding dances, kept the energy and focus up. The duet dance was stunning and drew the audience into a moment of poignancy and delicacy. The Pool Party was innovative in its choreography and allowed the dancers and models to compliment each other as well as showcase their separate talents.
Unfortunately the Game Players and Game Players II scenes left a little to be desired, particularly after the abundance of imagination put into the other scenes. Nonetheless the balance of dance styles was great, the nice mixture of jazz, contemporary, ballet and street (the technique of which was particularly impressive) was broadened further with the addition of the different society performances. Brazilian martial arts is not something you’d expect to see at a show such as Fusion, but the Capoeira dancers were excellent. Similarly one must admire the Hornets cheerleading squad’s ability to smile convincingly while being thrown about in the air in complex moves.
The models were surprisingly professional and fused nicely with the dancers; their scenes were not only well choreographed (particularly the Dollies and Barbies & Kens) but their expressions were impressive and they really showed off the clothing. Perhaps the smaller cast meant more attention to detail was paid, but it was highly effective and meant the modelling scenes were both stunning and entertaining.
Thematically the music was truly taken advantage of, and the Brass Band made for a happy and energetic finale. Generally the use of lighting was great but at some points it took the attention away from the dancers; irritatingly in the Mario scene the strobe detracted from some of the seriously impressive choreography. The light-up disco floor, however, was a great touch.
Altogether, Fiona Lavelle and Janey Stephenson's 'Fusion: Playing Games' had all the components of an outstanding show, great imagination, brilliant attention to detail, accomplished choreography and overall an energy and excitement from the cast that left the audience wanting to dance the rest of the night away.
Although undoubtably a great production, I found the first half quite repetitive, with recurring choreographical elements and unvaried beats. I disagree that the game players were disappointing, I thought they, along with the second half, provided much needed variation. I do agree that the ballet, duet, and opening scene were fantastic though!
http://www.nouse.co.uk/2011/03/05/fusion-playing-games/
Subjective stuff!
The end was incredibly self-congratulatory, especially the (long) speech which should have been reserved for the last night. It all became very smug, and the fact that the performers' applause for themselves was louder than the audience's should say something.
Very true #3 - the speech was cringeworthy....
Most of the dances were incredible, but the lighting was awful - sometimes you couldn't even see the dancers! And the models should have stuck to walking, not attempting to dance....
The speech was there to remind people that this is for charity and that it is a student production, not a professional one - something that Nouse clearly seem to be forgetting. The Nouse article has actually got a lot of positives in, it's just a shame they feel good reviews have to have a negative undercurrent to be worth anything. The Vision one is also going so if we go with the majority vote, it's definitely worth watching and a lot of fun.
No, the speech was there to tell each other how awesome they were, with charity on the side.
The speech was an embarrassment, and I want to make it clear that most of the cast didn't feel that it was necessary, particularly on the first night. Fusion is an amazing event of incredible dances and is a great opportunity for students to showcase their designs. Yeah, the modelling part of it isn't always great, but there were some scenes that worked well and it's just so much fun to be involved. In response to no.3 about applauding ourselves more: well, think about it. As a model, I think I do jack all compared to some of the UNBELIEVABLY talented dancers, so when I was applauding, I was applauding my utmost and directing it towards the dancers. Similarly, the dancers were applauding other dancers, the societies, the models. At no point did I feel that I was applauding myself, but then that is pretty hard to convey when there's just a bunch of people clapping. It's kind of impossible to say, 'Oh, by the way, I'm not applauding myself, because that would be very arrogant, but I am applauding the rest of the cast who have put in so much work'. I don't know. It's hard to get the balance right, and hard to emphasise that you're so proud of everyone else who is so talented and who has worked so hard, rather than yourself. I do know what you mean, though. It was kind of an awkward moment. Anyway, the speech wasn't there last night - thank GOD - so the problem didn't arise.
I think all of the reviews have been completely fair, and I wouldn't trust a review if it didn't have some negative points in it. The point of a review is to weigh up the good and the bad - Fusion wasn't flawless, so the review shouldn't be.
This is #3. Just wanted to say that #7 makes a very good point and I also want to emphasise that I thought the dancers AND the models did an incredible job, one which (as someone who is so uncoordinated that they trip and fall at the mere thought of dancing or wearing heels higher than 3 inches) I have no authority to comment on. They definately deserve a great deal of credit. I just thought the speech was a little inappropriate and should have placed much more emphasis on the charity, while reserving the rest for the last night or even the green room.
Well done guys, a great production.
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