Brighton Fringe 2026

I’m sorry to disappoint you all

The 12th Floor

Genre: Dance

Venue: The Dance Space - The Jamie Watton Creation Space

Festival: Brighton Fringe

Low Down

Review

The dance opens quietly. Lights gradually pick out a pile of two bodies where it’s uncertain which entwined limbs belong to whose body. Slowly a hand emerges, a foot almost as if they are  signaling something or maybe they are uncurling from a deep slumber.  Simultaneously there’s a distinct and intimate soundtrack of small wet sounds as if someone is popping their lips,  and on the back wall of the stage a pair of eyes is projected – only small, but moving over the wall and occasionally the eyes dart a look towards you. . It gives a sense of a troubled awakening, but takes its time to build up the effect. It’s a tremendously effective fusion of dance, projection and sound that the 12th Floor duo (dancers Mette Nilsen and Charis Crudgington, composer Phoebe Coco) use to keep you immersed in their performance.

The sound track, composed by Phoebe Coco is layered and intricate, with elements of ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response). Without getting too hung up on definitions of ASMR the beginning of Phoebe Coco’s soundtrack does elicit an almost visceral sense of hearing, as if someone is whispering and making softly comforting clicking noises just inside your ear. It evokes intimacy and combines with the dance and projections so effectively.

The projections (film edited by Charis), starting with a woman’s forehead and eyes appearing and moving across the backdrop are expressive and welcoming, almost, althoúgh they also have a sense of anxiety. As the dancers emerge from their cocooned embrace the backdrop projection changes scale. It’s a slowly whirling vista of steel and glass, revealed to be a London skyline at one point. The dancers follow the swirl which isn’t fast enough to be dizzying, but communicates the vast reach of a high rise city. Sometimes the images are reflected in water, sometimes they are views looking up towards the sky, but always moving – it’s always watchable. The sound track is swirling too and it’s an intensely powerful but gentle spectacle.

One of the marks of good dance is that your interest is always piqued by small movements and by large.  From the delicately lit waving of feet and hands in the first emergent scene to the larger scale dance and back, in one scene, to the image of someone trying to get up, trying to rise but failing, your attention is always held. At this stage the soundtrack has repeated phrases from one (or maybe two)  rich female voices – “Lets pretend this didn’t happen”, was one phrase that sticks in my mind. There is a sense of struggle and abandonment, but without a loss of hope perhaps. 

The title of the piece “I’m sorry to disappoint you all” steers you towards an interpretation of being overwhelmed by things, vast cities, water, sounds, conflict, not quite being able to function amidst it all. 

It’s a highly evocative and fulfilling experience to watch. Both dancers are of course technically skilled and work together seamlessly, their intense physicality seems effortless.

 Over and above skill and artifice though great dance is about the emotional connection, even spiritual connection that can be conveyed , and this is happening. This production’s powerful affect is accentuated by the sensitive and inspired use of projected images and sound track – as a unified whole its sum is far greater than its parts – which is not to downplay the parts on their own. 

Then lastly half the evening was a devised dance piece, In This Room,  with sound and projection again, that Mette and Charis had created with a group from the community over three four hour workshops. I’m not reviewing it as such, but it certainly deserves a mention as another highly effective piece of dance – I enjoyed this as well – so not a review just a reflection.

Published May 14, 2026May 15, 2026 by Bill Parslow