Rating
Unmissable!
Past and present are uniquely juxtaposed in a breathtaking immersive celebration of the possibilities of hip hop dance and the exceptional work of the Coronet.
One of the foremost independent theatres in London, the Coronet Theatre supports groundbreaking, esoteric international performance. This year it celebrates 10 glorious years under the guiding hand of artistic director Anda Winters. It’s perhaps then the perfect moment to present a uniquely innovative work that thrillingly juxtaposes the continuity of heritage with an injection of futuristic vision, binding them tightly together with the very fabric of this building at the core.
The Belt is an extraordinary two act piece, the first ever immersive show at this venue, built in 1898 and where age is tangible in its faded grandeur and classical plasterwork. The show’s intention is to disclose connections, bringing past and present together. The audience is initially guided in groups to spaces usually inaccessible to the public, which reveals possibility and transgresses conventional boundaries in a way that succinctly speaks to the work of the Coronet. We’re playfully invited to consider the world we think we know with new eyes. Today, these spaces have names (such as the room of communication, of creativity, or solitude and struggle) and within each we experience fascinating encounters with the exceptional performers from Korean hip hop dance company Ambiguous Dance.
Choreographer Boram Kim intertwines the dancers and audience in an intriguing process of discovery and redefinition that reconsiders limits of time, place and performance. The path taken differs for each group, but at one pause we find dancers performing slick hip hop moves totally reinvented by an elegant backing track of Ravel’s Bolero. Elsewhere we see four basic steps excitingly reimagined through eclectic music choices. On the roof we pass a herd of sheep as we enter the cupola to view modern hip hop moves that intricately reinterpret traditional Korean music. There’s a deeply unsettling segment in the basement where the audience are led gently by hand to view a dancer gyrating disturbingly with a black plastic bag over their head. At one juncture we’re invited to imitate the sequin-clad club dancer in a joyful but simple routine that after five minutes is quite tiring! It’s dizzily exciting anticipating where our journey will lead.
All the above is fabulously entertaining, but it’s also preparation for the second act, an astonishing, Olympian display of endurance, performed in the auditorium by the entire company. This is utterly breathtaking.
At first just two dancers emerge. Moving unaccompanied by music, their synchronised steps reveal invisible understandings between them. Soon multiple performers are dancing, following complex paths and creating a larger connected body. Black costumes featuring lace and peekaboo panels, speak further of transgression, with teasing hints of the erotic, whilst face coverings disguise individuality. A meticulous techno soundtrack by HyeWin Choi thengives urgency to the dance, relentlessly changing up gears as the dancers move with absolute precision to interpret the clublike music in the traditional space. Their futuristic, Southeast Asian interpretation of hip hop reinvents what we know of this dance style. It’s a full hour of exquisitely complex, challenging movement, pushing on and on, until we feel they can surely do no more? Our five minutes of activity from earlier is a pitiful effort in contrast to this incredible physicality. The dancers finally drop one by one – but just when it seems it’s all over, they rise yet again, injecting vibrant energy from nowhere to create a beginning in the ending
This is an astonishing, supercharged production that captures the essence of this already exceptional site in a spectacular performance that demands appreciation. The traditional Coronet space and also its awed audience are reinvented by Ambiguous Dance’s futuristic vision of possibility, setting an upward trajectory for another ten years of outstanding achievement.
Produced by: Ambiguous Dance
Choreography by: Boram Kim
Music by: HyeWon Choi
Lighting Director: KyuYeon Hwang
Sound Direction by: HyungRok An
The Belt has completed its current run at The Coronet Theatre.
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