Yorke Dance Project: Modern Milestones

"On the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham company it was fitting to open the night with Deep Song (1937), an early Graham work and a meditation on the Spanish Civil War. The dance embodies the physical representation of the human form in Pablo Picasso's anti-war masterpiece Guernica. Solo dancer Amy Thake sat on a white bench, resplendent in a geometric black and white dress that opened up into a fan shape."

"To the sound of American musical pioneer Henry Cowell's Sinister Resonance, a composition that uses just the inside of the piano as a sound source, she executed an impassioned series of stretches and holds, sighing and responding to the plangent melodic line interspersed with ominous low thuds. There was a Spanish elegance to Thake's line with subtle flamenco references as the dancer moved from resistance to submission; acting out fencing lunges, clenching her hands and finally lifting the bench with her back."

"Yolande Yorke-Edgell's Yorke Dance Project (YDP) has a dual mission; to celebrate the roots of American contemporary dance and to work with veteran and younger choreographers to create fresh work. Tonight's programme at the Linbury studio theatre at the Royal Opera House achieved both aims. A mixed programme of five works, four shorter pieces followed by a second half that showcased a new Christopher Bruce ballet set to songs by Leonard Cohen, left the packed audience cheering for an evening's entertainment."

Yorke Dance Project presented a five-work programme celebrating American contemporary dance roots and commissioning new pieces from veteran and emerging choreographers. The evening opened with Martha Graham's Deep Song (1937), a meditation on the Spanish Civil War evoking Picasso's Guernica, performed by Amy Thake with a geometric black-and-white costume. Henry Cowell's Sinister Resonance accompanied Thake's impassioned stretches, flamenco-inflected gestures, and a final bench lift, earning an ovation. YDP Associate Artist Liam Francis premiered Cast |X| to a Jethro Cooke score built from found vocal samples over a string drone. A new Christopher Bruce ballet set to Leonard Cohen filled the second half.

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