Ballet Boyz : England on Fire ⚝⚝⚝⚝
Sadlers Wells Theatre, London
If you like dance with interdisciplinary ambition then do an allegro jeté over to Sadlers Wells for Balletboyz England on Fire. Bringing together over 40 choreographers, performers, and composers it’s the opportunity to see a range of different artistic approaches placed cheek to cheek in an eclectic curation by Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt.
The initial inspiration for the work is the art book England on Fire: A Visual Journey through Albion’s Psychic Landscape by Stephen Ellcock and Matt Osman. It was the New Statesman’s book of the year in 2022. The book celebrates the inspiring visual mysteries of England, its myths, rituals, legends, ghosts, and their occult origins. It makes the case for an artistic anarchy that burns in the English soul. This dance piece throws itself into those chaotic flames.
Seen through the eyes of an observer at the mercy of the vagaries of life the individual pieces explore pain, loss, passion, humour and politics. The dances are driven by a set of talented and imaginative choreographers including Vidya Patel, Edd Arnold, Lucy Bennett, Holly Blakey, Ola Ince, Shelley Maxwell, Russell Maliphant, and Thick & Tight.
The sound is wide-ranging and expansive. Composers include Gwilym Gold, Charlotte Harding, Keaton Henson, Cassie Kinoshi, Mukul, and Joe Zeitlin, and they career between rock, folk, bits of punk, and symphonic ballads. Beyond the music is an immersive soundscape of waves, birds and natural phenomena that wash across the huge canvas of the Sadlers Wells theater. It’s a bath of surround sound where lights from the stage also pierce into the audience, stretching the stage into the furthest recesses of the theatre.
The strongest part of the experience is, happily, the technical accomplishment of the dancers and choreographers. Performances are exquisite, backed by imaginative and disparate vision. The same ensemble is faultlessly stretched across a myriad of styles and movements
The story is incidental. An inexpressive and occasionally inaudible verbal narration does little to reduce the enigmatic, bordering on opaque, nature of the tale. It’s the flux of life. While there are visual references to English politics, folklore and history it’s expendable fare. However, a dramatic highlight comes with the introduction of a Derek Jarmanesque Jubilee punk soundtrack that satirically engulfs a monarch dragged askew in a cloak made of the English flag. This, combined with an ode to England as a hothouse flower surrounded by cracked window panes, expresses the melancholy pessimism that saturates contemporary Albion.
If you are there for the dance, it is Sadlers Wells after all, then it’s a wonderful opportunity to see great dancers tackle a varied range of innovative styles in exceptional fashion set to an eclectic soundtrack. Think showcase over storytelling.
Queerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA and cultural STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing, and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day”
