Probably only someone who is not a dancer (like me) would try to define what dance is, but I’ll have a go: people making pleasing shapes with the body, to music, usually in concert with others. And this is exactly what the Beaumont Dance Company do in their three short pieces, ‘Targetted’. Yes, targets have got everywhere, and, as the performers said, sometimes they like them, sometimes they don’t.
The first piece uses installation to good effect, with the shadows of two performers reflected on the screen as they reach for targets: invisible ones as well as visible round ones, including a small, elusive one which flies away. The second piece, featuring touch, is performed by two pairs of students to the sound of Cher’s ‘Bang Bang – you shot me down’. The third, perhaps the most memorable, features five students, three in wheelchairs, two in chairs, in a diagonal row across the stage: as ‘May the road rise with you’ plays, they move in turn – sometimes dramatically – in their own ‘signature’ way.
What is impressive is the evident self-discipline and teamwork which is perhaps not usually associated with young performers such as these. They performed very much as a group, united not only by their clever tuxedo-T-shirts, but also by the timing. These performances had obviously been very carefully rehearsed and the students’ dedication was evident.
• ‘Targetted’ will be performed again at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal (details TBA).
Jane Sunderland