Particle Velocity: All Alight, KI, Tender Crazy Love,Repetition of Change
Sharon Watson, the company’s artistic director, untangles the genetic code in Repetition of Change. Danced to a specially commissioned score from Kenneth Hesketh it has dancers locked and unlocked, reflecting and reacting, ever evolving and using their costumes (flowing tunics) as an extension of what they represent. What the scientist sees Watson has put on stage - and made spellbinding dance.
The Stage
7 February 2013
by Kevin Berry
Phoenix Dance: Particle Velocity
Completing the bill is Artistic Director Sharon Watson's latest work. The piece, titled Repetition of Change, is an abstract dance work exploring DNA with choreography that sweeps the dancers across the stage.
Repetition of Change is set to a specially commissioned score from composer Kenneth Hesketh. Dancers blend movement with music from on stage musicians to create a unique, abstract piece of theatre and provide a programme-closing crowd-pleaser.
digyorkshire.com
Saturday 9 February 2013
Margaret Klenk
Repetition of Change
Repetition of Change was unlike any dance I had ever seen before. Fast paced, energetic and powerful, the whole routine is fluid and sharp. The clever use of lighting and bold coloured fabrics visually enhanced the performance, exciting the eyes. The brilliant Sharon Watson choreographed the fascinating performance whilst renowned Kenneth Hesketh composed the excellent Forms Entangled, Shapes Collided score. The score was performed by the exceptional music ensemble Psappha, made up of Conrad Marshall, Dov Goldberg, David Lewis, Benedict Holland and Jenifer Langridge, which just added to the vibrancy and unpredictability of the performance. Alluring and engaging, both the individual and team routines were refined, sharp and impulsive. The best thing for me about this performance was that after they told us the dance was based around observing DNA under the microscope, it was open to personal interpretations of the dance, making it so much more interesting.
Phoenix Dance Theatre’s astounding Particle Velocity is at the West Yorkshire Playhouse Thursday 7th – Saturday 9th February. Whilst there’s not much time left to book tickets I highly advise you to, especially if you appreciate dance and art combined.
11 February 2013
Charlene Wykman
Leedslist.com
Phoenix Dance Theatre: Particle Velocity
Repetition of Change, the final piece of the programme, was choreographed by Phoenix Dance Theatre's Artistic Director, Sharon Watson, and also uses live music with a specially commissioned score ‘Forms Entangled, Shapes Collided’, composed by Kenneth Hesketh and performed by Psappha, which is dark and rhythmically complex. This is an ambitious and brave piece exploring the intricate world of DNA. Watson has replicated and used double helix within the piece because it is multi-layered. The opening of this piece is visually stunning and the movement has a mercurial quality, as a giant parachute begins to unfold under projections which put the dancers on stage under a microscope. This is a very strong section in the piece, with powerful imagery and compelling movement, and could have afforded further development. The dancers work exceptionally well as an ensemble in this piece, which is wonderful to watch.
Zoe Parker
Review: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Particle Velocity, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
OH, that Phoenix could have had more than four nights in their home city of Leeds.
This is Sharon Watson’s most exhilarating show since taking the artistic director’s reins in May 2009, the programme as diverse as the dancers that make up the latest company.
Everything but the kitchen sink went into Repetition Of Change, Sharon Watson’s new ensemble piece rooted in the complexities of DNA. Set to Kenneth Hesketh’s jagged new score, it opened with a light show and huge swathes of material working dazzlingly in tandem with the dancers before taking on an ever more intricate form that hotly pursued but never matched its opening thrills.
Saturday 16th February 2013
Charles Hutchinson
Liverpool Cultural Champion
‘Particle Velocity’ by Phoenix Dance Explode at the Playhouse 12th and 13th March
Set to a special commissioned score, artistic director Sharon Watson’s latest work uses movement to unravel our genetic code, and create a passionate, musical, human dance theatre. It takes the audience on a volatile journey through the fascinating world of DNA, set to forms of entangled shapes that collide to a special score by renowned composer Kenneth Hesketh.
If you want spellbinding dance, then be visually impressed with this piece.
Andre Olchowski
12 March 2013
REVIEW: Particle Velocity, Liverpool Playhouse
The final piece, Repetition of Change, featured an especially commissioned score from celebrated, Liverpool-born composer Kenneth Hesketh and used dance to explore the intricate world of DNA. With a striking costume becoming a backdrop, the ensemble dressed in smocks and with lighting almost rendering them genderless, the dancers battled and aligned in an eye-catching work of physicality.
13 March 2013
DANCE REVIEW: Phoenix Dance Theatre presents Particle Velocity at the Liverpool Playhouse
Repetition of Change was inspired by the world of DNA but don’t ask me to explain it. This was an abstract piece involving eight dancers in which music, design and dance came together in a bewildering but fascinating show.
It was all quite mesmerising, beautifully conceived and wonderfully odd.
Liverpool Daily Post
Phillip Key
14 March 2013