June 18, 2006
Universus Symphania
Pegasus Theatre
June 17th 2006
This show was the result of months of work by several local community dance groups for both children and adults. Making Traxx Dance Company, part of the Parasol Project, and the Cutteslowe Posse (taking in four separate dance companies), were brought together by effervescent director Jacqui Malone to perform sixteen dance pieces and a musical interlude, in a broad range of combinations and styles. It's billed as world music, and indeed the show's soundtrack is a buzzy mix of hip-hop, reggae, mambo music, Indian dance music, old standards and a guy in baggy orange trousers with a guitar.
The big group dance numbers featured some great physical acting from Making Traxx, blurring the line between dancing and storytelling. There were moments of sloppiness, but this is hardly the sort of show to come to if you demand balletic correctness and world-class technical excellence. On the other hand, it delivered enthusiasm, exuberance and sheer pluck by the bucketful. Particularly fun were the Wolvercote Crewe's "Bongo Bong" and "Click Click" by the Cuttin Crewe Dance Company. The smaller pieces were the most affecting. "Nine Million", a dance by the graceful Melissa Wong accompanied by the sweet, heartfelt singing of Pam Gaughran, put a lump in my throat, and Julie Thompson and Jessica Thistleton's "Duplex" was a thing of strange beauty. Moonsoup Dance Company opened and closed the show with pieces called "Backwards" and "Forwards"; quite appropriately, their first act seemed overly tentative, but by the second they seemed to have stopped holding back and danced with conviction and style.
With the exception of a couple, overheard at the interval complaining "It's all a bit… *modern*" (surely that's a compliment?), the audience certainly seemed caught up in the infectious street-level energy of the show, right up to the closing moments when the whole company poured back on stage for an impromptu encore of "Shake Your Tail Feather" and danced holding the bouquets they'd just been presented with in the wings.
According to their news board, the Pegasus Theatre is soon to be completely rebuilt and expanded thanks to a Lottery grant. Good news for us, the audience, and also for all the performers in shows like these. Long may they keep dancing.
Pegasus Theatre
June 17th 2006
This show was the result of months of work by several local community dance groups for both children and adults. Making Traxx Dance Company, part of the Parasol Project, and the Cutteslowe Posse (taking in four separate dance companies), were brought together by effervescent director Jacqui Malone to perform sixteen dance pieces and a musical interlude, in a broad range of combinations and styles. It's billed as world music, and indeed the show's soundtrack is a buzzy mix of hip-hop, reggae, mambo music, Indian dance music, old standards and a guy in baggy orange trousers with a guitar.
The big group dance numbers featured some great physical acting from Making Traxx, blurring the line between dancing and storytelling. There were moments of sloppiness, but this is hardly the sort of show to come to if you demand balletic correctness and world-class technical excellence. On the other hand, it delivered enthusiasm, exuberance and sheer pluck by the bucketful. Particularly fun were the Wolvercote Crewe's "Bongo Bong" and "Click Click" by the Cuttin Crewe Dance Company. The smaller pieces were the most affecting. "Nine Million", a dance by the graceful Melissa Wong accompanied by the sweet, heartfelt singing of Pam Gaughran, put a lump in my throat, and Julie Thompson and Jessica Thistleton's "Duplex" was a thing of strange beauty. Moonsoup Dance Company opened and closed the show with pieces called "Backwards" and "Forwards"; quite appropriately, their first act seemed overly tentative, but by the second they seemed to have stopped holding back and danced with conviction and style.
With the exception of a couple, overheard at the interval complaining "It's all a bit… *modern*" (surely that's a compliment?), the audience certainly seemed caught up in the infectious street-level energy of the show, right up to the closing moments when the whole company poured back on stage for an impromptu encore of "Shake Your Tail Feather" and danced holding the bouquets they'd just been presented with in the wings.
According to their news board, the Pegasus Theatre is soon to be completely rebuilt and expanded thanks to a Lottery grant. Good news for us, the audience, and also for all the performers in shows like these. Long may they keep dancing.