BLKDOG - BOTIS SEVA/FAR FROM THE NORM
BLKDOG is a hip-hop dance performance and a beautiful and brutal commentary on how today's youth navigate a world not made for them. The performance asks the question "is it possible to walk through the darkness to find peace?".
Botis Seva, one of England's most visionary choreographers, has created a cathartic and raw implosion with his dance company Far From The Norm in BLKDOG, premiering in Denmark at WAVES.
With a tight and instinctive beat from Torben Sylvest's sound surface as a heartbeat, the 7 dancers create a choreographic organism and visualise the energy, care, violence, darkness, light and struggle. All the way through the confrontational passage from the lightness of childhood to becoming an adult in a world full of injustice, resistance and responsibility.
BLKDOG is childhood memories, lived traumas, bodies that pulsate, hit hard and hit deep. They pull us in, force us to feel, trap us in a darkness so dense that even the slightest glimmer of light becomes blinding. And there, in the centre of the storm, a crack opens - a hope of life for the future.
Botis Seva is a distinctive choreographic voice with roots in hip hop. His approach to choreography is characterised by experimentation and great artistic openness. BLKDOG, which won the 2019 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, is based on real experiences and personal stories - both his own and those of the people who helped create the work. His work also draws on elements from film, literature, visual art, and an unconventional relationship with dance, which allows him to continuously renew his artistic language and the performing arts.
Founded in 2009, the Far From The Norm dance company delivers a genre-bending aesthetic of physical poetry that draws on personal experience, resistance to social inequality and an unwavering belief in creativity as a force for change. Their work is characterised by uncompromising physicality, precisely choreographed sequences and a particularly high degree of flow between dancers.
BLKDOG is the festival's indoor opening performance and the ticket also gives access to the opening reception at 19:00.
Note: there will be loud noise, smoke and violence in the performance.
What critics say
"Always earth-bound, they look like a feral street gang, egged on by Torben Sylvest's pounding score - so intense that as an audience you feel its vibrations in your own body." - Culture Whisper (UK)
"One of the most important dances of recent years must be Botis Seva's BLKDOG." - Reviews Hub
"In this stupendous achievement, the performers dig deep to produce an original and unforgettable experience." - London Living Large
"Fierce, pounding, unisex movement derived from hip-hop moves." - The Sunday Times
Credits
Director and choreographer: Botis Seva
Composer: Torben Sylvest
Sound design: Tom Visser
Costume design: Ryan Dawson-Laight
Dancers from Far From the Norm: Max Revell, Sebastian Harry, Corey Owens, Joshua Shanny Wynter, Larissa Koopman, Penelope Klamert, Margaux Pourpoint, Imogen Wright
Choreographic assistants: Victoria Shulungu & Hayleigh Sellors
Executive Producer: Lee Griffiths
Production Manager: Andy Downie
Production and lighting: Andrej Gubanov, Chris Burr, Seth Rook William
Tour manager: Gabija Cepelyte
Costume designers: Jordan Goertz, Julie Sayers, Kelsey Vickery, Kingsley Hall, Lou Petty, Rosie Whiting
Sound engineer: Pär Carlsson
Choreographic assistants in research & development: Ekin Bernay
Contributing artists: Charlotte Clark, Clarissa Shulungu, Ezra Owen, Isaac Ouro-Gnao, Savanah Anais, Rowe, Shiloh Seva, Tyrone Isaac-Stuart
Production and support
Co-produced by Far From The Norm, Norrlandsoperan and Sadler's Wells.
The production is supported by Arts Council England, Kingston University, Laban Theatre, Siobhan Davies Dance and UEL Dance: Urban Practice Department.
BLKDOG at WAVES is specially supported by the Augustinus Foundation.
Instagram: @farfromthenorm