“In 2010, when the Dance Consortium first imported this Havana-based troupe to the UK, the company earned nominations for three major dance awards. This hat-trick can be largely credited to an ensemble piece by its resident choreographer George Céspedes that has since become a company signature piece. His work returns as the climax of a triple bill, on tour till June 9, that showcases Danza Contemporánea de Cuba’s unique blend of desirability and discipline.
Set principally to a big, sexy and electronic reworking of the music of Mambo kingpin Perez Prado, Céspedes’ Mambo 3XX1 still merits raves. It’s a subversive piece of popular culture that asks what it means to undergo social (r)evolution. Twenty dancers locate the seminal rhythms that allow them to shift from cautious, self-regulated uncertainty to joyful liberation. They handle everything Céspedes dishes up—machinated ensemble moves, alternately agile and tender duets plus a spate of gut-busting clockwork quintets – with aplomb.
A bigger gamble on this tour was the world premiere of Sombrisa by the Israeli-born choreographer Itzik Galili. The culmination of a three-year research project between Danza Contemporánea and Newcastle Theatre Royal, Sombrisa (the title means smiling shadows) was inspired by the art of boxing. Although none of the 18 dancers jab or take any swipes at each other, all wear the bulbous gloves essential for Cuba’s national sport.
Sombrisa may not be a total knockout but it possesses a smart, eye-catching appeal and exemplifies Galili’s dynamic use of canonical patterns that treat bodies like undulant dominoes. In Natasja Lansen’s witty, black and white costumes the women resemble a pack of frilly-skirted French maids courted by men in button-down shirts, bowties and shorts. The lighting (by Yaron Abulafia) is sophisticated and the soundtrack – Steve Reich’s Drumming Part 1 – is madly driven.
The programme is rounded out by a clever jape called Carmen?! By Kenneth Kvarnström. Seven male dancers dot their best to invoke the spirit of the infamous femme fatale and her lovers as well as assorted barnyard animals. The result is rudely amusing, kinetic camp comedy.”
