Siobhan Murphy is a freelance writer, reviewer and editor, based in London. Between 2005 and 2014 she was London Metro's arts editor. She also contributes to LondonDance and tweets sporadically at @blacktigerlily.
Under are the articles written for DanceTabs.
Studio Wayne McGregor, Northern Ballet & Gary Clarke Company – Locked Down. Locked In. But Living
★★★★✰ As tentative steps continue to get the dance world back on its feet, the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield has asked three companies to embrace the possibilities of lockdown with a trio of filmed works.
Linda Hayford and Kloé Dean – AlShe/Me and Man Up Aerowaves 2 bill – London
★★★★✰ Family ties were explored in two markedly different ways in this hip hop dance double bill.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan – 13 Tongues & Dust – London
★★★★✰ Although starkly different in theme and intention, both 13 Tongues and Dust showcased the company’s unique blend of movement, drawn from classical and modern traditions…
Acosta Danza – Evolution: Rooster, Faun, Satori & Paysage, Soudain, la nuit – London
★★★★✰ It’s thrilling to see the building confidence of Carlos Acosta’s Cuban-based dance company. There’s a sense of cohesion, shared purpose and a unique identity drawn from a vibrant range of influences.
Natalia Osipova – Pure Dance bill – London
★★★✰✰ Once again, Osipova gave it her all – and Osipova’s all is quite something to behold.
Nicola Gunn – Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster – London
★★★✰✰ A disarmingly odd blend of narrative theatre, philosophical debate and experimental performance.
Forced Entertainment – Out of Order – London
★★★✰✰ A devised work, it pits six clowns against each other – a rancorous superannuated troupe locked in a queasy co-dependent relationship despite the fact they loathe each other.
Oona Doherty – Hard to Be Soft: A Belfast Prayer – London
★★★★★ The dance artist Oona Doherty was transplanted to Belfast from London aged ten, and there was the gaze of a curious outsider about Hard to Be Soft.
Gisele Vienne – Crowd – London
★★★★✰ You have to marvel at the skill and precision of the 15 dancers in Crowd, the creation of the Franco-Austrian choreographer Gisele Vienne and the opening show of this year’s Dance Umbrella festival.
Gary Clarke Company – Wasteland – London
★★★✰✰ Clarke doesn’t pull any punches with his ending …once again, a community is left defiant but defeated.
Boy Blue – Redd – London
★★★✰✰ Redd is another bold exploration of the storytelling potential of hip-hop dance, which succeeds in showing that beyond the crowd-pleasing tricks, this form can mine powerful, complex, gutsy emotions.
Olga Pericet – The Thorn That Wanted to Be a Flower, or The Flower That Dreamed of Being a Dancer – London
★★★★★ The Cordoban star Olga Pericet’s poetically titled show revealed, wonderfully, a personality too big for flamenco to hold.
Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras – Sombras – London
★★★★★ Baras’s improvisations were not outpourings of emotion, but concentrated bursts of pure skill, passionately channelled.
Birmingham Royal Ballet – Hobson’s Choice – London
★★★★✰ Big-hearted, whimsical, suffused with equal parts romance and drollness, Hobson’s Choice is a gem of the BRB repertoire – long may it keep being revived.
Phoenix Dance Theatre – Left Unseen and The Rite of Spring – London
★★✰✰✰ Phoenix Dance Theatre’s The Rite of Spring came with tantalising credentials: the company’s first collaboration with Opera North, and a UK debut for the Haitian choreographer Jeanguy Saintus…
Royal Ballet School – ROH, Young Talent Festival, mixed bill – London
★★★★✰ Royal Ballet School at the ROH Young Talent Festival with a mixed bill of over 10, new and old works…
Birmingham Royal Ballet – [Un]leashed: Lyric Pieces, Sense of Time, Peter and the Wolf – London
★★★✰✰ Overall, invigorating; a demonstration of the company’s healthy enthusiasm for innovation and playing with the form…
Norwegian National Ballet 2 – ROH, Young Talent Festival, Quint Bill – London
★★★✰✰ Norwegian National Ballet 2 at the ROH Young Talent Festival with 5 works – Departures, Valse-Fantaisie, Pas de Sept from A Folk Tale, Some See Stages, Left from Write
Arthur Pita, Natalia Osipova and Jonathan Goddard – The Mother – London
★★★★✰ The Mother takes already dark source material (a Hans Christian Andersen tale) and plunges even deeper into the nightmare scenario it proposes, giving everything a convincing Russian twist along the way.
San Francisco Ballet – Bespoke, Hummingbird and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – London
★★★★✰ the overall impression was of the wholly American spirit of the company – peppy, vivacious, determined and running at full-tilt.
