Thu 5 Feb: MANACAN, Shea Sullivan and Jie Gao

MANACAN The World We Dreamed

Shea Sullivan Emanations of Disfigurement

Jie Gao Echo Of Me

Echo of Me, by Jie Gao, begins with a lone dancer, dressed in bright red, who becomes irreversibly entangled with a balloon. With well timed physical comedy, the dancer takes us through scenes such as a gnarly fist fight and a reluctant first dance to an Ed Sheeran song. The audience is tickled! Another soloist appears, unable to stop boogying. His desperation to be still, his huffs and puffs and pleading looks, are delightful. The piece continues into a large ensemble section, a pleasant contrast to the first half. Jie Gao demonstrates how precision and physical exertion do not have to be sacrificed for humour. In fact, it's the piece’s elegant timing and pushing of physical boundaries that derive the most laughs.

Whilst plot drives Echo of Me, it is the music, a pulsing beat, coming from deep below the earth, which propels Manacan’s Rooted. The dancers draw out intricate rhythms in their enchanting movements. Ripples of energy flutter off their bodies, bringing light to different parts of the stage which always remains partially dark. What is left unseen creates mystery, and a latent danger, but the deep trust between the two dancers allows them to navigate this mystifying world. They share a secret language, rooted in layers of history and wisdom. It is truly astonishing to see what Manacan has cultivated.

In contrast to the exactness of Manacan’s work, Shea Sullivan’sEmanations of Disfigurement is a looser, broader landscape: discordant sounds, writhing bodies, tattered clothes. This grunginess is punctuated by the recurring motif of leg extensions and turns, which at times feel gratuitous. Stuckness and discomfort surface as major themes, but feel subdued at first. In the latter half of the piece, exhaustion sets in, and things feel more real. The heavy breathing of the dancers becomes part of the sound, and there is a genuine friction in the movement. The piece creates a strong mood and aesthetic, and as it develops, the themes become more visceral.

Alma Kremnitzer

Resolution, The Place’s annual platform for emerging choreographers, continues to present a wide spectrum of aesthetic voices. The 5 February triple bill moved from theatrical repetition to rhythmic physicality and finally into a darker, horror-inflected terrain.

Jie Gao’sEcho of Me opened with an image of disarming simplicity: a dancer and a red balloon. What first appeared playful gradually took on a more unsettling tone, as repetition accumulated and the stage filled with patterned movement. A striking moment came when the ensemble lined up diagonally behind the dancer with the balloon, the bold colour contrast shifting the atmosphere from comic to faintly totalitarian. When the balloon was finally popped, the dancers dispersed, and the piece ended with a man bringing his swinging arm to a halt—a small but potent gesture of agency. The structure was clear and engaging, though the comic sections might have been more sharply shaped to support the final image.

MANACAN’sRooted followed with assured physical precision and rhythmic control. The duet built through tightly co-ordinated exchanges, the dancers shifting positions and watching one another with an almost ritual attention. Their grounded movement, supported by effective lighting, created a series of vivid stage images, but most memorable was the quiet moment of mutual gaze after a blackout, the stillness anchoring the piece’s more explosive physical passages.

Shea Sullivan’s Emanations of Disfigurement closed the programme in harsher territory. Screeching soundscapes and stark lighting created a deliberately uncomfortable environment. The red and green lighting, echoed in the costumes, suggested a broken traffic signal and a world out of balance. The movement was powerful and spatially ambitious, though a clearer stylistic and structural progression might have sharpened the work’s emotional impact.

As a whole, the evening reflected Resolution’s core strength: a platform where contrasting aesthetics can sit side by side, revealing the breadth of emerging choreographic voices.

Namoo Chae Lee