Review: Feel The Beat, ARK

Feel the Beat is a participatory show, currently out on tour, which aims to open up access to live performance through joyful and inclusive offers of sensory interactions. It is co-created by Kent Association for the Blind and Jodie & Co for visually impaired and sighted audiences. Families and young people of age 6 + are welcomed on the tour and today at Ark, Cliftonville Cultural Space, Margate. 

Outside the performance area we are warmly greeted by Neelam Saredia Brayley who signposts an access information banner and props table. Her collaborative work and experience in holding shows with embedded access is evident and, along with designer Kat Heath and lead artist Jodie Cole, provides a beautiful, optional pre-show taster. We are encouraged to leave bags and outdoor garbs in a bright orange bag, to ensure there are no tripwires for any partially sighted participants. Access is set up well here, and gently integrated into the creative whole.

The audience is guided through a red translucent screen and into the magic of a relaxed space, where four performers fluidly move to assist the seating in a circle of purposefully white chairs. We are immediately relaxed when transparent tactile balls are given out for us to hold, touch and play with. One of the performers, Shivaangee Agrawal, doubles as audio describer, and sets up gentle instructions, in a low natural voice, that offer choices and boundaries for participants. As a sighted member of the audience, I took up the offer to shut my eyes and after a while was imagining visually by deeper listening. Moving to microphone voice, Agrawal clearly guides by poetic descriptions of a series of dance transformations into different worlds. Director Cole successfully collaborates to find the fun moments, such as thrown balls that feel like popcorn or fire crackers, blending well with nature’s more lyrical movements. There are several sensory objects to interact with and to activate personal memory.

Sighted audiences can choose to find two performers (Faith Prendergast and Jay Yule), who move seamlessly and authentically in duets or solos to Cole’s energised and open-hearted choreography. The fourth performer, Aaron Baksh, sets up environments and has a dance presence in the space as an access support artist, providing movement guidance if needed. The ensemble dances together, costumed in colours that seemingly reflect an essence of individuality, styled with light tones and a festival vibe of oranges, blues, pinks and mauves (all audio described). Special mention to the sensory, high fashion pompom jackets. Set design (Lily O’Hara and Kat Heath) further marks fabulous clear pathways or boundaries, moving from cloud containers, hot tubs and huge jellyfish. Participants are invited to sit or softly interact in the container: who knew that under arm cotton wool clouds felt great for stress? 

The soundtrack and continuous beat that underscores the feels of the sound and music is stunning. Composer and sound designer Quiet Boy punctuates each transformation with multi-sensory beats along with sometimes cinematic and emotionally driven sound. Feel the Beat is a carefully curated gentle build, reaching a joyous crescendo and celebrating house music as we come together to really feel the beat and dance around as one dance ensemble. It is a skill to finish a show with everyone dancing in a joyful, inclusive space. 

At the recent Olivier Awards, actor Paapa Essiedu called for sustained funding for grassroots theatre organisations to continue brilliant work. That certainly includes accessible and collaborative beats from locally based talents like Jodie & Co, along with buildings such as Ark, who offer space to interrogate their practice. It’s a 90 minute train ride away from London: come on down.

Director and Choreographer: Jodie Cole
Composer and Sound Design: Quiet Boy (Gaz Tomlinson)
Set and Costume Design: Kat Heath and Lily O’ Hara
Access Support, Team & Audience: Neelam Saredia Brayley
Access Consultant: Holly Thomas Dance
Produced by Roxanne Carney for House of Carney

Feel the Beat is on tour throughout the UK.