Formed in 1981, Phoenix Dance Theatre have had more image changes than Madonna and now it’s time for a new iteration. Artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis, who joined last year, is an American choreographer, a former dancer with the Alvin Ailey company and not well known in the UK, so this triple bill is the first chance for many to see his work.
The evening is cumbersomely titled Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love, and Willis provides the final chapter with his piece Terms of Agreement. To the dreamy/poppy sounds of Labrinth and Rachel Chinouriri and spoken words by writer Tomos O’Sullivan, the eight-strong cast journeys somewhat aimlessly through different expressions of ardour and anguish. Love in this instance seems often sad and unfulfilling, but available in myriad permutations: a tortured throuple, a woman’s swooning solo, a standout scene between two men (Aaron Chaplin and Dylan Springer) taking turns to slide the other’s body from a table to the floor, ultra-slowly, that is strangely irresistible. But as a whole the work is lacking traction and effective dramaturgy.
The real sit-up-and-watch moments come in Cloudburst from choreographer Miguel Altunaga. Drawing on ideas of ancestry, spirituality and sacrifice, Cloudburst has “stories within stories” says the programme, which means none of them are very clear. But that matters less when this is arguably the strongest movement Altunaga’s made to date. Drawing on his Afro-Cuban heritage, sweeping up hints of styles from salsa to vogue to vaudeville alongside forceful, sharply drawn shapes and hard-edged earthiness, it’s extrovert steps with introvert character.
Completing the trio of works, an extract from former artistic director Dane Hurst’s Requiem, set to Mozart, which premiered last year with Opera North (the music’s now recorded). This shorter version is more abstract and amorphously spiritual, but comes with a compelling contrast of softness and tenderness versus muscle and weight, and phrases spun like long silken threads.
Phoenix began as an all-male, black company, so it’s fitting that in this programme, by three black choreographers, the men are particularly strong. A renewal that also loops back to the beginning.
• At Leeds Playhouse until 23 February. Then touring until 4 May
