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Superb music and truly impressive professional dancing that’s sadly too often masked by the format of the staging.Summary
Rating
Good
Tonight at the Barbican we’re invited to an evening of live jazz performance. The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady, created and produced by Clod Ensemble in association with Nu Civilisation Orchestra, is an opportunity to enjoy participatory dancing alongside some superb music. It features ‘The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady’ by jazz legend Charles Mingus along with new compositions by Romarna Campbell, Peter Edwards and Paul Clark.
The theatre is set out with cabaret tables around the edge of a large dance floor. There’s even a bar tucked away that adds to the jazz club feel. Long strings of colourful bobbles hang from the ceiling making the vast space more intimate and there’s a joyful vibe in the room. We have a bit of a struggle to find two seats together but share a table with a friendly soul – which, it turns out, fits in with the communal, collaborative ethos of the evening. Some spectators end up seated on steps or the floor, which is perhaps less ideal. We’re also greeted by a friendly student from Ballet Rambert, one of a group of young people selected to perform with the company tonight.
Before the show commences a host explains the format. The band will play some works written by Campbell, Edwards and Clark before delivering Mingus’ fabulous seminal piece. Simultaneously dancers will take to the stage and welcome the audience to join in, moving them on and off the dance floor at different points. We’re invited to move around the room, changing our perspective, although once seated this is less easy to do than first appears, as people are sitting quite tightly around the stage.
The music kicks off and Nu Civilisation are simply brilliant, their slick, resonant sounds sweetening the air like honey. There’s a complex range of pieces played, each bringing nuanced, liquid atmospheres that set the stage alight or make you melt; all performed flawlessly.
The dancers too are immensely talented, and their set pieces and solos are captivating, made beautifully theatrical by Hansjörg Schmidt’s atmospheric lighting design. It’s exhilarating to see them absorbing the music bodily, interpreting the sound through intricate, often unexpected movement. Often they draw on incongruous combinations of dance moves to innovate, juxtaposing ballet with hip hop or swing as they feel the groove.
It’s absolutely superb – when you can see it. What’s problematic is the role of the active audience members who get up to dance. They’re clearly having a great time moving with the professionals and enjoying liberating their own bodily interpretations of the music. It’s a generous and exciting invitation for those who want to, to share the stage with such talented performers. But for those of us who can’t get up for whatever reason, or don’t want to, these giant group numbers create barriers that inhibit our view of the professionals at the centre of the room. Instead it’s a bit like being at a wedding, where guests may be really enjoying dancing, but you wouldn’t necessarily pay to watch them.
The issue is not insoluble. If the format of the production were such that the professionals have a period of clear performance before the audience are invited to join the vibe it would make things just as satisfying for those of us who aren’t up and moving as for those who are, giving equal opportunity to enjoy the outstanding talent that is otherwise too often masked.
Despite these visibility issues, I was entirely happy to just immerse myself in the glorious talent of the Nu Civilisation Orchestra and imagine I was in a hazy jazz club somewhere in Harlem. Nice…!
The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady written by Charles Mingus
New compositions by Romarna Campbell, Peter Edwards and Paul Clark
Artistic Director Clod Ensemble / Director: Suzy Willson
Musical Director Nu Civilisation Orchestra / Composer: Peter Edwards
Artistic Director Nu Civilisation Orchestra: Gary Crosby
Artistic Director Clod Ensemble / Composer Paul Clark
Lighting design by: Hansjörg Schmidt
Costume design by: Marianthi Hatzikidi
Set design by: Sarah Blenkinsop
The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady runs at the Barbican Theatre until Saturday 21 September. Further details and how to book can be found here.
