Reviews & Reflections

Negotiating Wholeness and Uncertainty through Movement in ‘Deciphers’

Image: Deciphers | Photographer: Maya Yoncali Deciphers opens with a paper scroll stretched across the stage, layered with newspaper and magazine cutouts, its surface marked by Jean Abreu and Naishi Wang’s doodles. Two LED tubes rest on this collage, doubling as rulers and weights, underscoring the scroll’s symbolism on culture and language. Abreu and Wang each take an edge of the scroll. Together, they slowly crumple and hug the paper to their chests, embodying the cultura

Elspeth Chan

Dec 29, 20253 min read

Alternative Roots Part I: A Refreshing Celebration of ESEA Identity and Being

Image: Live podcast with Ming Strike (guest Jade Johnson & Bunga Yuridespita) | Photographer: Joy Chao A rare opportunity to explore and celebrate East and South-East Asian (ESEA) artists, Alternative Roots festival took place last month revealing a range of artists curated by Ming Strike. Organised by Kakilang, film, dance and fine arts collided at Hoxton Hall in an exploration of place, migrations, and the joy and challenges of ESEA identities in London. The first panel of

Janejira Matthews

Dec 12, 20256 min read

Revealing the Complexity and Tension of Kathak in 'Bibi Rukiya's Reckless Daughter'

Image: Amina Khayyam Dance Company in Bibi Rukiya's Reckless Daughter | Photographer: Simon Richardson Kathak, soft and fluid yet defined, might be described as grace with an accented edge. An aesthetic outlier from its Indian classical counterparts, Kathak has a flowing gentility poured into the form through rippling palms matched with whip-fast turns. Yet Amina Khayyam Dance Company’s artists have mastered the form enough to offset its softness with an emotional tension

Janejira Matthews

Nov 30, 20253 min read

The otherworldly delight of Pell Ensemble's 'Hinterlands'

Image: Pell Ensemble in Hinterlands | Photographer: Mira Loew The dance studio has always represented possibility and play for me. To simply be. Pell Ensemble dives into a Virtual Reality existence via visual manipulation of organic fantasy, layering an alternative plane on top of the studio space. The premise of Hinterlands is based on extremophiles, introducing an unfamiliar environment to an everyday space. A creature in the form of a dancer, Anthony Daly Luna, guides us

Janejira Matthews

Nov 13, 20252 min read

Woo Woolf: Channelling One’s Own Stream of Consciousness

Image: Woo Woolf | Photographer: Carey Chen As part of the Voila Theatre Festival 2025, Woo Woolf offers a vibrant exploration of identity, language, and memory. Directed by Xiaonan Wang and produced by Ensemble Not Found, the piece invites audiences into a fluid dreamscape shaped by the intersecting stories of three women, all named Mary. From the outset, the characters clarify that this is not about Virginia Woolf herself, but about the rhythmic currents of her stream-of-

Elspeth Chan

Nov 12, 20253 min read

Vlaemsch: Visually striking, pensive, but over-stretched

A world sculpted in greyscale, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Vlaemsch (Chez Moi) - 'Vlaemsch' being an archaic spelling of 'Flemish' - dives into his Flemish roots, artistic legacy and surrounding prejudice. A large, cut-out mansion dominates the stage, looming over the dancers that slip into scenes painted by old masters or gliding and twitching through enigmatic solos. Endless characters are squeezed into this dreamhouse of a work: an older woman takes us through family portrai

Janejira Matthews

Oct 29, 20252 min read

Rethinking the Gaze in Dance: Katie Gathercole’s ‘Doing It for Attention’ Workshop

Katie Gathercole’s recent workshop, Doing It for Attention , unfolds at the edges of physical theatre and immersive performance, where the boundaries between performer and audience gently dissolve. Conceived as a playground for movement exploration, the session invited participants to probe the power dynamics of attention: how do we demand it, surrender it, or redirect it? What happens when attention itself becomes the choreographer? Photographer: Chris Williamson The Potent

Elspeth Chan

Oct 25, 20254 min read

We Caliban: The wonder of uncovering narrative in the face of colonialism

Image: Dancers (left-right) Natnael Dawit, Tabitha O’Sullivan, Oliver Mahar, Tanisha Addicott, Julia Costa, Holly Vallis in Shobana Jeyasingh's We Caliban | Photographer: Foteini Christofilopoulou Civilised, or “savage”? Educated, or monstrous? Shakespeare’s character of Caliban is arguably presented as a more lowly character in The Tempest , but even in Shakespeare’s text we see an inkling of something more. Shobana Jeyasingh’s We Caliban tries to paint a picture of these

Janejira Matthews

Oct 18, 20253 min read

Dissonance and dissent - 'Exquisite Noise' voices urgency in the present

Joint review written by Elspeth Chan & Janejira Matthews Image: Dam Van Huynh's Exquisite Noise | Photographer: redManhattan Photography An anger, a fearlessness, draped in haze. Bodies dragging, or being dragged. Brief moments of tenderness. In Dam Van Huynh’s Exquisite Noise , all of these things are set in a sensory intensity that spreads from the stage into the auditorium, an emotional infection to be absorbed or embodied by the viewer. Rooted in the idea that noise is a

Janejira Matthews

Oct 14, 20253 min read