Choreographer Holly Blakey has sprung back into action with a new double bill: ‘A Wound With Teeth’ (AWWT) followed by ‘Phantom’, which I was lucky enough to catch at the Queen Elizabeth Centre in London’s Southbank last week.
The opening show, AWWT, is part of a full-length work called Lo and explores memory, in particular, how we can block memories to protect ourselves from past trauma. Using her own experience as a teenager, Holly Blakey describes the work as born from personal amnesia, the forgotten year she spent in a mental health facility, and the result has been translated into a frantic, nightmarish dream. Psychedelic outfits, which are an assault on the senses and performances which are raggedly deconstructed, stretch your vision in all directions at once, set to the shared background language of nursery rhymes.
Working consistently with almost all the same dancers, I can best describe the show as feral. Hungrily, they roll, prance, grind and tangle through a world which we cannot see – occasionally chanting to monastic recordings and a segment which was interjected with the sounds of children’s laughter echoing in a playground.
A man catches one’s eye, randomly wearing a sequined balaclava, another dancer like a puppet on a string. But instead of offering answers, you are expected to ingratiate yourself and follow the long hair which whips frantically to the rhythm, the oversized hoop skirts which become props and hiding places and the bodies which crumple and rise like puppets.
The performance would not be complete without the outstanding costumes, which were designed by collaborator Matthew Josephs (who also worked with Holly Blakey on Cowpuncher). Part Renaissance drag, part rave couture (think codpieces, sequins, G-strings and neon), they ooze flamboyance, confidence with a smattering of folklore; and dancer, Chester Hayes opens the piece, dressed as a surreal Elizabethan infant, complete with doublet, bonnet and yellow socks, which sets the scene for the energetic rampage that will definitely take your breath away for the full 60 minutes.
Following an interval, where the audience (and dancers) were able to get their breath back, the same cast opened Phantom. Harmonised yet unique, these characters were now sheathed in neon and tartan ensembles (designed by Fashion Darling, Chopova Lowena), which allowed them to gyrate and thrash about in pounding ritual moves to represent Blakey’s own miscarriage.
Once again, the dancers don’t have a set for context, so the mood is raw and visceral – the emotions come from the bodies, costumes, and soundtrack. Phantom is not here to soothe. It’s here to split you open, drag you into the whirlpool and leave you wondering if the woman you saw collapse in glitter was laughing, sobbing or climaxing.
What unites both works is Blakey’s refusal to be easily digested. Her choreography revels in uncertainty and discomfort. She draws from folk forms, club culture, and contemporary trauma and has chosen not to tidy them up for theatre, but to revel in their grime. These dances aren’t linear – they are electric, tangled and emotive.
She once said, “People love it, and people fucking hate it too,” and that duality is on full display here. The show is hypnotic and maddening. At times, it’s like watching a dream you’re not sure is yours. At others, it’s so immediate you feel your own muscles twitch in response.
It’s not pretty, but it’s poignant. I loved it!
Credits
Holly Blakey, director and choreographer
Gwilym Gold music
Chester Hayes, Grace Jabbari, Liana Kleinman, Sari Mizoe, Elisabeth Mulenga, Luigi Nardone, Moronfoluwa Odimayo, Violet Savage, Naomi Weijand, Fenglin Yang, dancers
Joshie Harriette lighting
Matthew Josephs with archival pieces by Chopova Lowena (Phantom), costumes and styling
Sharia Johnson, rehearsal director
Metal & Water lead performance and tour production
Ben Totty, BOX Artist Management talent manager and executive producer
More on Holly Blakey and her performances can be found online.
