GPD 'Steptext' reviews 'Steptext' reviews GPD 'Critical Mass' reviews 'Critical Mass' reviews Panchenko in reviews Hart in reviews recent GPD reviews

The venue: the Roundhouse: - Unpromising from the outside, but GPD have managed to create an intimate dance space inside with a large diamond shaped stage with seating up from the 2 front sides.

The company: William Trevitt and Michael Nunn. Also Christopher Marney, Oxana Panchenko, Matthew Hart, Lucy Dodd and Justine Doswell.

The program: 5 dances. 2 intervals, and with some brief film clips of the ballet boyz in between.

Forsyths ‘Steptext’ kicked off the evening – Christopher Marney starting in silence while we were all still getting seated, and then joined by Trevitt, Nunn and Panchenko. Very stylish, difficult, slick, with aggressive/arrogant/confident undertones, and beautifully performed by all four

Maliphants ‘Critical Mass’ ended the evening – the highlight for me – The synthesised music, and the fluidity and strength and restlessness of the movement, the inter-dependent lifts and balances, combine to create a hypnotic quality in this duet for two men. Some of the striking lighting effects of the original were missing, but the overall effect was still stunning and it was performed flawlessly by Trevitt and Nunn, whom you can only conclude must love dancing this sort of thing.

The 3 pieces in between haven’t been so warmly reviewed by The Proper Critics. We enjoyed all of them.

Number 2 on the program was by Trevitt and Nunn ‘Moments of Plastic Jubilation’. 6 dancers. Bits of film as a backdrop. Lots of movement, lots of fun. Interactions front stage between individuals and silhouetted movement back of stage against the film. Odd silver underpants. Some live filming – Trevitt walking around Nunn as he danced and simultaneously projected film of him. Interesting stuff, and the piece the friends with me liked best of all.

Number 3; ‘Tangoid’ by Trevitt: - Hart, Dodd and Doswell in a fun threesome. Sometimes sexy, pretentious and posturing, othertimes reminiscent of children having fun dressing up like grown-ups. An ideal piece for Matthew Hart with his ability to charm and inject humour, and like everything else, danced beautifully.

‘Sigue’ by Paul Lightfoot was number 4 on the bill. . This had lots of slow controlled lifts, and was a sensual, moving, emotionally suppressed duet for Trevitt and Panchenko. – Or at least I thought so.- Conversation with friend afterwards: He: “Wow, that was amazingly sexy !” Me: “ Yes, Quite moving too don’t you think ?” He: (pause) “No. Just amazingly sexy”

So there you go – back to that old chestnut of different opinions and dance enjoyment being subjective and all that.