Silence Of The Soul

This was a commission with the British Council, Arts Council of England, Greenwich Dance Agency (Brendan Keaney), The Point, Eastleigh & The Linbury Trust.

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A cast of 7 beautiful dancers and 5 amazing musicians.

 

Lee Clayden, Scott Smith, Catherine Bennett, Theo Clinkard, Jacob, Jenny Tattersall, Antonia Grove

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This piece was created when my dad was ill. He died just before we premiered it in St Petersburg, Russia. The British Council were co-producers of this piece of work.

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"The seven musicians perform on stage behind the seven dancers, and at first their close communication feels exhilarating. Angular chips of dance fly around percussive shards of music in patterns so rhythmically exact and so mind-bogglingly complex that they seem a miracle of shared intuition.

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Walker's choreography has moved into a particularly compelling phase. She can spark dozens of variations off a single idea, yet each formal development carries a human subtext. When the trajectories of two lone dancers collide to become a jabbing, feinting duet, the result is not only fascinating dance but garrulous, needy interaction. When one sharply ducking move is taken up and refracted by the entire cast, the stage erupts into animated conversation.

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Park's music is less intricately textured, but his rhythms sharpen the edges of the dance and multiply its complexity. The recurring abrupt silences, during which the dancers withdraw into quizzical or ruminative stillness, feel like essential shock absorbers.

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During the final section, score and choreography accelerate to a rush that reiterates the powerful charge between them. Yet 60 minutes is too long a span for dance and music to be so perfectly attuned. The work's middle section, in particular, cries out for the tension of competing elements and contrasting voices. Too much closeness makes for too little air or space - and this is a shame, because Walker is working at a peak and her dancers are so extraordinary. Collectively, their performance is a feat of memory and coordination; individually, they are a wonderfully diverse bunch, from scrappy Jenny Tattersall to solid, serious Lee Clayden. Parts of this piece come close to being definitive, but parts are jostling to be seen and heard'.

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Silence of the Soul tests the limits and possibilities of human strength, determination, speed, individuality, commitment and passion.

 

The performance takes us through a physical, energy-driven process with a distinct marriage of live music and dance, weaving compelling stories about the price of being alive.

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The Times

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‘Their work is amongst the most stunning contemporary dance to come out of the UK in recent years, performed by an extraordinary group of dancers and musicians.’

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Walker’s subtle moves have the potential to change how we look at others and think about ourselves.

The Times