Brighton Year-Round 2024
Re:Incarnation
Qudus Onikeku and The QDance Company
Genre: Contemporary, Dance, Dance and Movement Theatre, International
Venue: Brighton Dome and Festival
Festival: Brighton Year-Round
Low Down
It’s a piece that demands close watching; not just to clock the precision of the dancers’ bodies, their fluidity and unflagging characterisation, but to unpick the cinematic scale of a very human story.
The debut tour continues across the country, ending in Edinburgh 18 & 19 October.
Founder, Artistic Director & Choreographer: Qudus Onikeku
Music Director & Composer: Olatunde Obajeun
Dance Lead & Artistic Assistant: Addy Oyinkuro Daniel
Dancers: Oba Ugochukwu Henry, Ruth Elphygo Felix, Faith Chukwuemeka Okoh, Angela Uchenna Okolo, Addy Oyinkuro Daniel, Dominic Terfa Abella, Wisdom Henry Bethel, Emmanuel Henry David, Esther Essien, Grace Diepreye Okilo
Review
“Everything is a performance in Lagos” says a dancer, talking post-show, still buzzing from a full-throttle 90 minute performance that portrays Lagos life and culture in vivid colour, imagery and movement.
It’s a piece that demands close watching; not just to clock the precision of the dancers’ bodies, their fluidity and unflagging characterisation, but to unpick the cinematic scale of a fundamentally human story.
Without scenery, visuals or props the focus, under stark, directional lighting, is wholly on the performers, the pictures they paint and the emotional journey they take us on.
Buckle in then, to move from birth, through death to re-birth, the concept of reincarnation central to Yoruba belief. But first, a prologue, the dancers in jewel bright outfits with yellow tops (the unofficial Lagos colour) as robots in a production line, until one breaks out and breaks down to a propulsive talking drum. Taking costumes from upstage they dress for ‘Ibi’ (birth) as if clothing themselves for the life ahead, full of bouyant expectation, the choreography echoing modern Nigerian street dance.
This blend of traditional with contemporary dance motifs is what makes the company so compelling to watch. The dancers, under Onikeku’s direction, bring their individual style and personality to the piece and have been central to its development. They have room to improvise too; some extended solos are over-wrought compared to the tight ensemble sections, but they’re welcome punctuation to a turbo-powered work.
‘Iku’ (Death) has a haunting Gothic quality, bodies powdered white, the movement ritualistic. Death here is an exit from modernity; Onikeku is eager to show the circularity of life, to go back way beyond our ancestors, and the dancers prowl like leopards and quiver as birds. Until a masquerade arrives, dazzlingly colourful, loaded with pom-poms, tassles and frills in Mary Peter Orchei’s enjoyably inventive costumes.
It’s a startling choice to give re-birth (Atunbi) the colour black, more so as the dancers paint themselves in an oily gloss that renders features ghoulish. There are horned helmets and yelping, synchronised movement, some crumping, a feeling that life is moving forward. The playing on stage of guitar and drums (Simeon Promise Lawrence and Daniel Ifeanyi Anumudu) backs the story, elegantly subtle in moments, propulsive where needed. Music is always present, with recorded trumpet and whispered voices adding texture to a complex, evocative show.
Feeling both modern and ancient, Re:Incarnation is a powerful reflection of Nigeria, loaded with meaning and exuberantly performed.
