Verve are 10 years old, apparently, and for this outing of the post graduate company, from Northern School of Contemporary Dance, of 12 dancers they are performing work by Anton Lachky, Renaud Wiser, Efrosini Protopapa and Athina Vahla. We caught up with the company at their final show for this tour at The Riley.
This year it is, for certain, an eclectic mix of pieces from an eclectic mix of dance makers. There’s a bit of conceptual, a bit of theatre, a few props and a lot of excellent movement from some highly skilled dancers.
Verve say this much about themselves and their work;
“Almost Poetic, Anton Lachky, A celebration of young energy both real and surreal. What is normal for us and what is normal for them? Almost Poetic questions the nature of storytelling without words.
The Thin Veil, Renaud Wiser, A reflection on individuality and an exploration of the shifting dynamics between a person and a group. The Thin Veil observes the personal transformations that occur when individuals are confronted with different influences.
Thank You For Coming, Efrosini Protopapa, Partly set and partly improvised, Thank You For Coming explores the pleasures and peculiarities of parties and social gatherings. Through a series of games, the performers invite the audience to enter an absurd world and to imagine a celebration of all celebrations.
A Soft Target, Athina Vahla, What are we consenting to? Inspired by Edward Bernay’s The Engineering of Consent, the work explores a map of our desires and how they can be played upon us. A Soft Target
manipulate perceptions through imagery and a disjointed physical language.”
For our feature we bring you lots of the work and interviews with company dancer Clémentine Télesfort and company AD Gianluca Vincentini. If you want to see these works then you can’t because the tour is over for the year and the dancers have moved on already but keep an eye for them in the wide world of dance.
Verve 2016 was performed by Rob Anderson, Iris Borràs Anglada, Joshua Tarifa Nuñez, Clémentine Télesfort, Faye Tan, Kai Tomioka, Stefania Pinato, Holly Steppel, Anna Fooks, Chris Hurst, Amarnah Amuludun and Jake Evans.
Filmed at The Riley Theatre on June 24th, 2016.
[ Company Website ]