Crazy Smooth : In My Body
‘For years, time meant nothing to me – now I have clocks everywhere’. Canadian street dance innovator Crazy Smooth explores the impact and perception of growing older in an industry and environment where youth dominates and careers traditional have burned brightly but quickly.
The multi-generational ensemble spend just over an hour celebrating both their here and now but also those innovators and pioneers who made their work possible. In My Body is more a celebration than a tribute – dancers who may otherwise have been considered ‘too old’ for professional performance, instead reminds us (or perhaps informs us) that we should challenge these assumptions and instead appreciate what can be learnt from those who trod the same paths before us.
Nine dancers perform across the piece – from solos to dance-offs and ensemble pieces, the audience are encouraged from the start to ‘express emotion’ and express it they do – whoops, applause (and definitely a few well-deserved gasps) punctuate the bustling soundtrack of hip-hop.
The staging is generally very simple with effective lighting capturing the movements – at times projections are used and towards the finale overhead cameras project the swirling movements in digitised form. This proves highly effective and allows the performers themselves to shine.
The pace (intentionally) slows at times, the performance anything but predictable – the energy heightened with humour and pathos at varying points.
Sitting in the auditorium of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank - the irony was not lost that the performance would have worked equally well (or indeed could have originated) outside the building among the skateboarders and artists that populate the croft below the theatre space.
A stunning show that shows that age is so much more than a number – a buzzing celebration of life, experience and legacy.
This show was reviewed on the 18th July 2024 at the Southbank Centre where it runs until the 20th July 2024. Tickets available here: Crazy Smooth: In My Body (southbankcentre.co.uk)
Review written by Mike Stocks
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Photo credit: Jerick Collantes / Rita Taylor
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