Dance: The magic is missing
GREEN CANDLE DANCE COMPANY SADLER'S WELLS LONDON
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.AFTER MONTHS of hosting big-league companies, Sadler's Wells is paying its dues to the local community with Green Candle Dance Company's new On the Road to Baghdad. This spectacle adapts a novel by the Turkish- American writer Guneli Gun, which in turn recycles Middle-Eastern folklore, history, Sufism and The Thousand and One Nights. The put-upon picaresque heroine is Huru, who staggers through a tapestry of extraordinary events, monstrous characters and demons who appear and disappear. It is magic realism given a predictable, 20th-century, feminist slant.
The choreographer and dancer Fergus Early started Green Candle as a community project 12 years ago. So how do you judge community performance? With an indulgent smile, if the production is devised and presented solely by amateurs who dance, act, sing and play music. Our heroine travels not only between Istanbul and Baghdad, but also 800 years backwards - and, at three hours, it certainly felt like it.
Emma Cater's Huru is on stage all the time and has a sweet singing voice, but is not a strong enough focus. Early, playing the small role of Huru's father, is relatively harmless; but Jason Lahav's green-skinned demon needs to loosen up his verbal stiffness.
The evening lights up with the Turkish actor Umut Ugur as a roguish alchemist, whose brief, but weighty, presence and voice suddenly make you sit up. He also took part in an exquisite, fantastical aerial ballet, with figures suspended in a night sky, tipping over and tangling with each other. But, in general, the work's dance rarely rises above movement sequences and is shakily performed.
The cast of (almost) thousands was made possible by the volunteers, whose ages span from five to 75. Their obvious pleasure makes this Arts Council- funded project worthwhile, but given its extensive scale and preparation, it is a shame that basic skills were not more rigorously pursued.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments