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REVIEW: Torobaka – Sadler’s Wells, London
Sadler’s Wells in London has a strong reputation for presenting innovative dance productions.
Torobaka is exactly the kind of production that many modern dance lovers are looking for – Akram Khan and Israel Galván collaborating together to create something exciting and unique.
Khan is a master of kathak – a traditional style of dance from the north of India. Galván is one of the finest exponents of contemporary flamenco – the dance that defines southern Spain.
Flamenco is thought to share its roots with kathak – Spain’s Romani population migrated from India (via the Middle East) in the 14th and 15th centuries – both styles of dance feature heavy use of percussive footwork and rhythmic cycles.
But Torobaka is more than just Khan and Galván coming together to showcase the similarities in their technique, what they’ve created through their collaboration is something extraordinary.
In describing their creative process, Khan and Galván count the poem Toto-vaca by Tristan Tzara as one of their main influences. The dadaist, surreal sense of the absurd seems to liberate the two dancers and three accompanying musicians, freeing them to explore new movements, new shapes, new sounds.
This style of dance isn’t going to be for everyone. The structure is sometimes hard to follow, there isn’t a lot of ebb and flow or dramatic arc to the work, occasionally it all felt just a little bit silly. But on the night that I saw it, the capacity audience at Sadler’s Wells leapt to their feet to give a standing ovation to one of the most creative, inventive, and surprising dance performances that you could hope to see.
Torobaka is being performed at Sadler’s Wells until 5 July 2015.
The post REVIEW: Torobaka – Sadler’s Wells, London appeared first on Gay Star News.
Gareth Johnson
www.gaystarnews.com/article/review-torobaka-sadlers-wells-london/
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