Brighton Festival 2026
The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady
Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra
Genre: Dance, Jazz, Live Music
Venue: Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
Festival: Brighton Festival
Low Down
“I wrote the music for dancing and listening. It is true music with much and many of my meanings. It is my living epitaph from birth til the day I first heard of Bird and Diz” Charles Mingus writes in the liner notes for his 1963 ‘concept’ album.
You’d better believe him; it’s living still. The show is a glorious blast of artist and audience creativity that seeps into your bones and into all corners of the venue. Like a speakeasy on a grand scale – whether you come to listen, watch or let your body dance, joy is everywhere present.
First created with and for Shoreditch Town Hall in 2023, it played at The Barbican for the London Jazz Festival in 2024. A version of the work was performed at Charleston Festival, Lewes in 2023.
Presented as a Brighton Festival Exclusive, Sat 16 and Sun 17 May 2026.
Review
Bassist and composer Charles Mingus thought that Be-Bop had taken the dance out of jazz and wrote this suite of connected tunes specifically to be danced to. It took the vision of performance makers Clod Ensemble to fulfil that mission, joining forces with Nu Civilisation Orchestra under Artistic Director Gary Crosby OBE (playing bass tonight) and Musical Director Peter Edwards. Mingus never got to see The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady danced to, but I think he would be delighted at how his music partners equally well with breakdance and hip-hop as it does with the balletic and jazzy styles in Suzy Willson’s choreography.
All dance forms are present in the dance circle tonight, in duets and solos, ensemble dances that weave around the space and at points take flight. This is a show that leads its audience so warmly and gently into and out of movement its a joy just to watch the mechanics of it; how the crowd knows to move back and when to join in with whatever energy and grooviness they feel.
Prefaced by three short new compositions that complement the Mingus score, Romarna Campbell’s ‘Let’s Lime’ (note the flute for later) ‘Slow Dance” by Peter Edwards and Clod Ensemble’s Paul Clark’s ‘Cripps Yard’ each pick up different rhythms allowing the dancers to teach simple moves and get the audience warmed up for the main event.
Not that there is any holding back. Give people a beat and the right environment and some will always want to dance, even if space is tight as it occasionally is here. The Corn Exchange has been reconfigured with raised seating platforms in corners and the band on an angled stage; the design allows you move around the space, perch or sit if you need to. Hansjörg Schmidt’s lighting draws you to the dance circle and makes the dancers glow. It also picks out the colourful paper flowers hanging from the rafters, hand-made by Djenaba Davis-Eyo.
Peter Edwards transcribed the Mingus score for his 12-piece orchestra and to my ear softens some of the wilder horn sections (I’m grateful) whilst keeping true to the flow and variety of the music. Women are well represented in the band, Becca Toft’s lead trumpet sings out and Hanna Mbuya brings out the fun of the tuba. Mingus drew from all traditions and cultures in this composition – the opening piece nods to Leonard Bernstein’s score for On The Waterfront – with its sultry horns and a repeated bass drum rhythm. It calls for, and gets, hip sways and arm raises.
A lovely Flamenco guitar solo from Ash Blasse (think Miles Davis Sketches of Spain) has everyone finger clicking and swirling their real or imaginary skirts. Some way-out staccato horn blasts are brilliantly partnered by Robert Dunkley-Gyimah’s break-dance duet with terrific Vogue-ing by Faye Stoeserz, her arms in long red gloves slashing the air like bloody knives. Costumes by Marianthi Hatzikidi were, I’m guessing, designed with the dancers. They perfectly suit the variations of technique and personality, a slit skirt for a high-leg kicker, a flouncy blouse for a Flamenco flourish. Footwear is equally alluring with flashes of silver in flats or heels.
It takes years of dedicated attention to make a work of this scale appear so effortlessly right. Music and dance in perfect synthesis is one thing, but involving a crowd mixed in years, backgrounds and abilities is a whole other skillset. The dancers achieve this with care and genuine enjoyment in encouraging folk to feel the music through their bodies. Young dancers from Rambert School swell the numbers and help the audience connect. “More light, more power” says host and MC Chloe Carterr in a mellow tone, resplendent in silver gown and magnificent ‘fro. We know we’re in safe hands here in this congregation of body movers and musical shakers, connected and in tune.
So should dancer Maycie-Ann St Louis ever take your hand and invite you to step into a circle of light surrounded by a hundred on-lookers, swallow your fear and follow. You may just end up dancing a scorching duet to a full jazz orchestra with the biggest of smiles on your face.
