The five dancers – three women, two men, all in sharp acid-bright suits – are across such shifts in mood as they hip-sway into a cool dude groove or couple up in contrasting duets where one pair has snap and crackle in their bones, the other is smooch-close and slippery-sensual with it.
Press Archive
By Richard Bolton
Ballet Black, however, is raw movement of the utmost standard. Its polish comes from capable dancers; its aesthetic shifts from natural dusk to a blaze of tone in what is a remarkable evening, redefining the rules of ballet.
By Richard Bolton
Through it all, though, the humanity, the aching sense of everyday grind, of struggle, of fight and exhaustion, is expressed with great depth of emotion by the whole company. The ensemble scenes are explosive, energetic but also aching in their sense of loss.
By Richard Bolton
Taut drama: Ballet Black in The Suit and Ingoma… It ends with a sense of togetherness. As sweat pours from the dancers’ bodies, the message is that ‘we will not be beaten’. A fine company with a fine message.
By Richard Bolton
This is ballet that is so imaginative, fresh and alive, I would encourage people who think they don’t like dance to go and see it. People who do love dance won’t need any encouragement. They will adore it all the more.
By Richard Bolton
The choreography was long and involved, and I can’t even imagine the physicality it takes to perform a piece like that. With every minute that passed, it felt like another layer of an onion was peeled off, revealing very raw emotions underneath. There was absolute beauty in their unity.
By Richard Bolton
For me, the lasting memory of Ballet Black is one of unique, powerful storytelling performed by remarkable dancers, with the strength and agility of world-class athletes. No wonder there was a standing ovation.
By Richard Bolton
It’s a fully charged onslaught of the senses….
By Richard Bolton
A duet between Sayaka Ichikawa, now in a drab blue dress and headscarf, and José Alves is painful in its intimacy. They stand close, foreheads touching, sharing their love, their breath and their fear, and dance in weaving, wrapping patterns…It was an evening when ballet has found an authentic black voice and it’s time to celebrate.
By Richard Bolton
Ballet Black: Pendulum / CLICK! / INGOMA at the Barbican By Graham Watts, 20 March 2019 Opening its eighteenth season (how is that possible?), Cassa Pancho’s chamber ballet ensemble has now clocked up 45 original commissions and last year’s newbie, The Suit by Cathy Marston, garnered two gongs in the…
By Richard Bolton
As founder Cassa Pancho noted in a post-show talk at the company’s recent triple bill at the Barbican, “it’s not just about redressing the lack of diverse bodies on stage but also the stories that are being told. It’s about changing the very gatekeepers of ballet.”
By Richard Bolton
Not only do the dancers dance, they also sing, of hope, of redemption and delivery from hardship. Gestures are supplicating, hands in prayer. The womenfolk in grey dresses and headscarves are a mighty force, too, fists at the ready in impassioned solos and group dance. Revolution is in the air. The air turns red.
By Richard Bolton
The triple bill contained an ideal balance of exhilarating works, between abstraction and narration, drama and comedy, grief and glee. The company, packed with brilliant dancers and role models for the next generation, has undeniably reached an exciting stage of maturity with its own impactful voice.
By Richard Bolton
José Alves’s powerful solo which conveys his increasing fury and frustration with deceptively simple means: running on the spot or smacking angrily against his rubber boots. There is a mournful soliloquy for Sayaka Ichikawa who represents the grieving womenfolk of the mining community, standing downstage, pounding a rhythm with her clenched fists against the fourth wall.
By Richard Bolton
As Ingoma comes to an end, the company’s power as a unit is palpable. The sweat pouring off their bodies is testament to the passion they have for their art, as is the applause from the audience. Ballet Black is certainly a dance company to look out for.
By Richard Bolton
For me the pinnacle on press night was a heartfelt, physically full-throttle solo from Isabela Coracy followed by a tremulously sensitive one from Sayaka Ichikawa.
By Richard Bolton
…in the outpouring of grief there is distress and pride, helplessness and yet a fierce energy for the fight. The dancers dig deep to serve November’s heartfelt work.
By Richard Bolton
Ingoma demonstrates not only the individual physicality of each dancer, but their strength as an assembly. The company move as one beast, sweeping across the shadowy space, pick-axes above their heads and fists held high.
By Richard Bolton
Of the people who didn’t stay [for the post-show talk], more than a few stopped on their way out to pose excitedly for photographs and selfies against the background of the dancers of Ballet Black in their sleek, sharp, larger-than-life poster.
By Christina Nicole
How this woman started the first black ballet company in the UK.