Transitions Contemporary Dance


Last night I attended Transitions dance company performance at Stage@Leeds. Transitions founded in 1982 and based in Trinity Laban is the original conservatoire dance company with 12 young dancers showcasing the talent.

The company is known for its daring and exciting choreography providing 3 different pieces which were all incredibly mesmerizing.
They opened with  'The Other/s' choreographed by Martin Nachbar , providing a intense and mysterious piece inviting the audience into a wonderful and playful world. The dancers project their enthusiasm and acting skills by exploring the ways of gestures, illusions, levitation and telekinesis. The dance provided overly expressive movements whilst demonstrating restriction and capturing the idea of being powerless. The performance was outrageously intense and so energetic that it left the audience feeling drained just watching the piece. I thought it was a wonderful opening, leaving the audience confused and dazed but in a positive perspective.

The second piece was called 'Left to Write' choreographed by Melanie Teall. A huge contrast to the first piece as it was performed to Gavriel Prokofiev's string quartet. Teall demonstrated an interest in relationships alongside the fluidity of the highly articulate dancing body creating shifting and enigmatic movements. The overall movements were physically challenging but were presented so beautifully and smoothly. Towards the end the dancers went into a slow trance really being able to engage the audience on another level. The costumes were also interesting playing on the colours of green and silver, not to mention how together and in time the dancers were.



Finally transitions ended with 'Line Story'  choreographed by Lucy Guerin providing a highly electronic performance with strict structured movements whilst playing on repetition. Cleverly choreographed it emphasized on the simplicity of certain movements as well as dealing with the complexity of the chaos.

Overall it was an amazing performance where the dancers put so much effort into really breaking the boundaries. I was slightly upset by the turnout within the audience. I think that people forget how much work and effort the dancers go through to get into the company and how much they trained for these performances. Especially as the company chooses the best dancers internationally, it's a shame that the theatre wasn't heaved with people. Not to mention the choreography itself was exciting and innovative exploring different aspects of the body. The performance as a whole wasn't too long and for the price of £8, it was definitely worth every single penny.

The company are still on tour, so if they come to your city and you have a little space in your heart for contemporary dance I would greatly advise going and showing your support.

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