After a very slow-burn start that takes us through suspense, into confusion then frustration, this piece, IV from SERAFINE1369 kicks dramatically into gear.
SERAFINE1369 (Jamila Johnson-Small) is a London-born dancer and researcher, who has brought three previous pieces in this series (II in 2023, XII in 2022, I I I in 2021), all exploring time, cycles, divination and decomposition. Those themes don’t seem to land very cohesively today, and the deeper concepts get lost in the dry ice, but the movement and staging is nonetheless mesmerising.
Stephanie McMann, Natifah White, Darcy Wallace and SERAFINE1369 take turns like pulsing cogs in a throbbing machine, their arms rippling like Savador Dali’s melting clocks under strip lights glowing white then yellow and orange. Like the thick haze of Tresor’s underground dancefloor in Berlin, the dancers seem to move even more freely as the air gets more opaque. Maybe the messages are too opaque too – there is a voiceover at the start with mentions of a hostile environment, before a speaking clock counts us through the hour-long piece. But the sound of a slow brewing storm swelling into a bassy thump mirrors the growing charge of this work, becoming most electrifying towards the end.
IV – Here & Now Showcase, Dance Base, until 24 Aug, 3.50pm