S?o Paulo Dance Company: a sizzling UK debut from the acclaimed Brazilian troupe
Here is the perfect antidote to this incessantly grey, gloomy weather: a sizzling UK debut from an acclaimed Brazilian company, whose passionate delivery feels like the dance equivalent of a sun lamp. However, this quality offering far exceeds any lazy expectations of carnival feathers and big smiles. Inês Bogéa’s skilful troupe delivers well-drilled classical and contemporary movement along with that signature exhilarating, sensual Latin flair.
This triple bill – created by choreographers rooted in Latin culture – is a promising demonstration of S?o Paulo Dance Company’s stylistic versatility, although certain qualities are constant throughout: a powerful, lithe muscularity, and such a total commitment to embodying the music’s pounding rhythms that you start to feel them pulsing through your own limbs. This is a toe-tapping, heart-racing thrill of an audience experience.
The opening number, Anthem, was created for S?o Paulo in 2019 by Goyo Montero, who is also the resident choreographer for Carlos Acosta’s Cuban company. Its premise is the tension between individual and collective identity – how communities can unite people, but also consume them. The tightly connected group prowls like a pack, hands fluttering, torsos swelling and contracting, either in sync or letting a certain movement ricochet off one dancer and onto another. Pairs sometimes emerge from the mass, showcasing impressively gymnastic lifts.
It’s a moody piece, reinforced by the smoky haze and Owen Belton’s soundscape, which features gun shots and shattering glass. It does stray into cliché on occasion – a broken-doll sequence, a streetdance-esque gang face-off – and there are some underdeveloped ideas, like an interesting section on forced patriotic fervour. But the dancers maintain the intensity right to the last second.
The company has been performing the show’s second work, Nacho Duato’s Gnawa, since 2009. It’s a spellbinding, soulful piece rooted in nature (we hear splashing water and chirruping birds) and in folk tradition: the title refers to the North African Gnawa people, who use music and dance in their healing rituals. Duato’s balletic movement is sinuous, detailed and utterly mesmerising, especially the central languid duet which feels almost Edenic: a man and a woman completely lost in their surroundings and in each other.
The final piece, Cassi Abranches’ 2019 Agora, is pure joy. There’s less of a concept here; instead, it’s turbo-charged by Sebastian Piracés’ buoyant rock-Afro-Brazilian fusion score. It begins slow, the dancers swaying from side to side along with a steady beat, but as the percussion gathers pace, they begin to bounce, leap and whirl irresistibly. A particularly incredible lift draws gasps from us all – a girl jumping feet first and daring her partner to catch her – however its brilliance is dimmed as it then recurs again and again.
Still, this is a cheeky, flirtatious and thoroughly pleasurable capper, with its sexy hip-swinging, funky strutting and explosive tricks. One male dancer runs around the others in giddy circles, seemingly too happy to keep still – and who can blame him? This is dancing that fires you up: red-hot entertainment.
Tour continues. Tickets: danceconsortium.com