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   Review: Signatures 2012 Youth Dance Showcase – The Lowry, Salford
Reviewer: Laura Maley
The Public Reviews Rating: Three and a half out of Five. As the ITV giant Britain’s Got Talent is filming in the Lyric Theatre, at The Lowry, I spy a man with a saucepan on his head being filmed outside the building. Elsewhere – and less surreally – in the Quays Theatre the audience is treated to an evening of dance by creative young people from all across Greater Manchester. Dance Initiative Greater Manchester and The Lowry combine to work with award-winning dancer Shaun Parker, one of Australia’s most innovative choreographers/directors. Twelve groups of young dancers were taught key themes from Parker’s work, which they interpreted for their own unique dances. The key themes are presented to the audience in a short video – introducing techniques like buckle and curve and turning off fun – which handily means we can spot the ways in which each group has incorporated and innovated from their base. An evening split into two halves, the first half containing six groups, the second five groups interspersed with ‘Five Moments’ from STRIDE, the Greater Manchester Young Mens Dance group. Throughout the evening there are fantastic performances and some very clever choreography. Commotions Youth Dance Company’s ‘Driven’ is a comment on the dynamics of striving for perfection, ending bravely with one member on stage receiving applause from the rest of the company moving among the audience. Another clever and effective moment comes from The Lowry CAT Associates exploring the creativity of having fun with choreographer Beth Bracegirdle in ‘Play’, in which each dancer twists themselves in an unravelled length of wool. It’s sharp, funny and looks great. My stand-out performance of the first half is Quantized Dance Company, made up of year 10 and 11 students at Oulderhill Community School. ‘Atomic’, for me, has the clearest single narrative, exploring the ideas of fun and games, action and reaction. The group look well rehearsed, confident and work as a cohesive unit, in an impressive piece, devised by the company and choreographer Trixi Bold. Young Oldham Dance Company and Twenty 10’s ‘Only Ever Nine’ is a striking performance. Making excellent use of music (Infra 5 – Max Richter) and silence, choreographers Romina Thornton and Ella Leech create a series of excerpts which flow well from each other telling another strong story, with effective use of repetition in passages and shapes. Use of balloons is a strong visual device which works well, the dancers handle the props expertly, which isn’t always an easy skill. The group which leaves me wanting more is Winstanley Dance, their ‘Ricochet’ is beautifully balletic – which marks it as different from many of the other performances and presents an enjoyable alternative look at Parker’s buckle and curve method in particular; it’s just over too soon! One of the strongest and most assured performances comes in the shape of Tameside Centre for Performing Arts with ‘Child’s Play’. They seem to be a slightly older group of dancers, with which comes strength, experience and excellent control of their movements. The dynamics of the group are helped by having an even number of male and female dancers, lending itself to a little more variety and some good lifts. Some of the other performances feel a little nervous or self conscious and at times there is an element of dancing-by-numbers; other performances lack a certain amount of sharpness and finishing of movements and shapes – all of which can be conquered with experience. There are some overly long waits between performances, which is a little distracting. I find the groups with smaller numbers of dancers generally fare better, with a more obvious focus and less distraction on stage. Overall, the evening is filled with creativity, energy, fun, colour and enjoyment which are communicated well to an audience which is appreciative of every performance. The Signatures project is an excellent one, allowing young dancers the chance to learn and develop their own ideas, bringing unique interpretations to the Signatures themes. It’s also part of a significant dance programme this year at The Lowry including Birmingham Royal Ballet, Matthew Bourne, Hofesh Schechter and Balletboyz – Greater Manchester’s talented young people find themselves in excellent company.
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