Introducing one of our volunteer dance reviewers, Jodie Stapleton:

I graduated from the University of Chichester with a BA (Hons) in Dance in 2013. Since then I have spent time travelling South East Asia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and South America. I am now back in Devon hoping to carry on developing my own education in Dance and complete my teacher training next year.
Review of Night Flying | Jane Mason and David Williams
by Jodie Stapleton
Tuesday 17 July 2018 at Exeter Phoenix.
The performance consisted of two solos sharing the space at the same time. One male and one female dancer who never actually met but the constant connection was evident throughout. The many themes jam packed into this piece meant there was a constant shift of thinking and it was interesting to watch each artists thought pattern and what resulted from it. They used their bodies, sound and the space to map their own subconscious rollercoaster.
Some of the ideas investigated in the piece included deep time, the night sky and landscapes of being. The movement was very pedestrian and often mimicked everyday actions but the significance was powerful and worked with the heavy use of props. The objects enhanced the themes and certainly added to the performance. For example the sand used to map the constellations on the floor at the beginning and the silver foil sheets used to capture the light and reflect it later in the piece.
The soundtrack was constantly shifting from soundscapes, live instruments, the dancer’s voices and silence. The soundtrack was partly created from NASA’s ‘Golden Record’, and this along with the dancers stories and memories brought us back to the sense of imagination and thought of the bigger picture outside of our own world. It complimented the experimental piece, and its interwoven thoughts of change, scale and wonder.
The piece is still within its development stage and it will certainly be exciting to see the finished product.
Top Image: Jane Mason