The Place

Clad in a hip suit and red tie a young man stands observing the five female performers of Scope Dance Theatre. In high tops and dramatic makeup the women in Nefeli Tsiouti’s Velocity, jar, lock and strike their limbs, while the lone man, Daniel Brill, accompanies them with cartoon style sound effects, whizzing, whistling and wurring. Yet with the skill and individuality of Brill, it felt a shame when recorded beat-box sounds kicked in and the dancers flung themselves into a conventional street style routine. Nonetheless it was at these moments when I noticed Brill still gazing at the women and a whole other story began to unfold...

With the house lights still up a tall scruffy man strolls onto stage. Shirt un-tucked he could be an intruder wandering in off the street. But, as the lights remain up and he approaches the audience he stops and takes in every face with the refreshing peace and confidence of a commanding performer. His hands gradually begin to caress imaginary obstacles; he appears to seize a bubble mid air and scratches the belly of a giraffe high above his head. This is Erik Nevin’s From The Forest, a subtle understated performance where disjointed voices and lilting piano add to the serene atmosphere. Gradually his movements built a little, but what made this work so uplifting is the cool ease with which Nevin could do nothing but could still have me on the edge of my seat.

Like walking into another world Mari Frogner’s People in Transit, transported the cold, bustling atmosphere of the train station onto The Place stage. The seven multi-age dancers of Nutshell Dance glide back and forth, and in one haunting moment they appear to be on an escalator as they slink up the stairs in one long steady line. But, while the dancers began to battle and meet in chance encounters, I was left wanting to know more about the human nature behind the slavish commuter routine.

Lucy Jarvis

There's so much more that goes into a performance than just the steps, and choreographer Nefeli Tsiouti has got a handle on that. Interesting lighting? Coherent look? Unusual live music? Check. In the latter case it's live beatboxing, courtesy of Daniel Brill, who joins the five-strong Scope Dance Theatre on stage in Velocity. It's the dance/music partnership that drives this piece of contemporary hip hop, but while there's some clear interaction between the two elements, the relationship's not rich enough to really spark.

Nutshell Dance's People InTransit is a work based on the behaviour of commuters at Waterloo station, as a metaphor for busy London. If that sounds like it's going to be a big bag of clichés I'm glad to say it's not. The mood at the outset is almost ghostly, with shimmery abstract guitar sounds rather than car horns and chaos. The dancers' gestural tics build into almost-interactions. The bodies gather and disperse, and it feels like they're going somewhere but never arriving, always en-route. Which you might say is London life right there.

That other cliché of London life is its anonymity. Nobody ever looks you in the eye. Which is why it is so startling and compelling and strangely welcoming when Erik Nevin does just that. With the lights bright he comes on stage and stares straight at us, not in intimidation or expectation, but as if to say: 'Here we are.' Nevin's solo, From The Forest, is almost a non-dance. He moves a little – a hesitant rocking this way and that, a sweeping arm motif. He certainly isn't dancerly in his gait, but he's oddly riveting as a performer. For a few moments I'm mesmerised by the extension of his long, long arm, watching his hand stroke the air, but mainly it's just about being in each other's presence. And it's a very comfortable connection. This is one performer I'd happily watch again. Or be watched by, as the case may be.

Lyndsey Winship