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TThe project: Five composers create new dances in response to Siobhan Davies’ 1977 solo Sphinx. What could happen: they have never seen the Sphinx. The start of this year-long project (there will be 20 choreographers by the end) is not a gimmick, but an example of Davies, who is now 75 years old, who was one of the pioneers of modern dance in the UK.
Instead of showing them dancing, Davies talked to the group about his experience making the Sphinx almost 50 years ago, and what it felt like (Davies is becoming his animal in a very sweet way, which you can see when the film is shown after the performance). Our attention is drawn to the action, something that is often frustratingly hidden from the audience, who only see the tip of what is made of the dance and what the performer may be feeling inside their spine, their muscles, their organs, their mind.
The most famous piece of the evening is Shannelle “Tali” Fergus, with the voice of her unedited thoughts, wondering how to do this as a choreographer “I create the appearance and respond to the sound” but does not know what Davies uses. Unlimited possibilities are more curses than blessings.
Elsewhere, Dan Daw and Temitope Ajose shoot through a list of words created from their conversations with Davies, “walking into dancing” or “synchronizing in/synchronizing”, which becomes a simple, abstract flower. In the film, Andrea Buckley dances in the arena while a horse grazes around her. And the British-Palestinian street dancer Sasha Mahfouz Shadid, who moves compulsively, plays the oud, makes a low noise like a falling bomb, covers her head for protection.
All are personal solutions, each made in five days. As Fergus’ voice tells us, it’s a way of thinking about how we can keep dancing, what we keep from it. He meditates on all the dances he has created himself, probably hundreds of lessons he teaches each week. We hear him discussing his choices for this dance, as his body changes according to his thoughts. Maybe they will be able to just put on music and let themselves go. This would leave us at the top – as an audience member, I want that. They have decided against it, and I feel that I am also very affected. It’s a thoughtful, productive night.
