The Vortex - The Russell Maliphant Dance Company
Excelsior Studio’s, 17-19 Sunbeam Rd, London NW10 6JP
Reviewed by Written W/ Love - Khalia Willett
Russell Maliphant has created an other worldly experience with the composition of The Vortex. Inspired by the late pioneer of abstract expressionism Jackson Pollock and his chaotic structural style of painting, The Vortex pays homage to the abstruse painting techniques donned by Pollock; and uses props in the most magnificent way to mirror the painting methods used by Jackson. This tasteful use of props complements and harmonizes with the physicality of movement to tease the senses and create a majestic theatrical experience. Sand is used to symbolize the loose nature of pouring paint and the stage is a replica of the large canvas’ Pollock would use, thus making the dancers the painters and, in this way, Russell is able to recreate a live version of the methods used by Jackson Pollock.
The piece exemplifies an ethereal approach to dance theatre, showcasing the magnitude of emotion that can be drawn out of the viewer. This then provokes an empathic response to follow an untold story that can be interpreted in a multitude of ways based off of the viewers prior knowledge and personal experiences. This approach implores a commonality of the synchronicity and indifference in minimalist movement that imbeds you into the extraordinarily creative concepts that intentionally pull the audience into the world of The Vortex.
The marriage between the choice of music and subtle use of an array of dance styles are bonded together, awakening the senses, using the body to create shapes and breath-taking moments supported by the gentile effect of the music. This continuum of using visual and audial channels build’s a level of intensity, that is upkept by the composition of music as it reaches the crescendo in correlation with fantastic choices of obscure, mind awakening movement that invites you on a journey of shrouding peaks and falls. Underpinned by the visual representation of The Vortex and what it is to be lost in space and time, to then be devoured by something so wild; and yet tamed in the most elegant and warm environment gives you goosebumps and leaves you on the edge of your seat.
The regal approach becomes eerie and borderline sinister, as each dancer looks at you whilst simultaneously looking through you with convictions in their part in the story of exploration and self-discovery. The warm lighting wraps you into their world and seamlessly changes, as the piece develops using cool orange, mellow lighting that creeps into blues flattering the lucidness of costume choice.
This brings the entirety of the piece together without overpowering or prohibiting the movement of the dancers. The Vortex is a clear example of the time and effort that The Russell Maliphant Dance Company put into their artistic exploration. Art is subjective and through their explorative practices they are tapping into the physicality of expressionism and the difference in creationism. The Russell Maliphant Dance Company are breaking boundaries by looking at dance as movement rather than compressing dance through the sometimes-segregated lense of stylized expression.