REVIEW – São Paulo Dance Company at Mayflower Theatre

‘São Paulo Dance Company’ is the latest performance presented by the ‘Dance Consortium’ to grace Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre. ‘São Paulo Dance Company’ are Brazil’s finest dance company, fusing the elegance of classical ballet with the sensuality of Latin American dance. They are the forefront of South American contemporary dance supported and set up by the government of the State of São Paulo and led with artistic direction by Inês Bogéa. ‘São Paulo’ was created in 2008 and with them being a relatively new company comprised of only 22 dancers, it’s so exciting to see such a celebrated cultural performance on our stage thanks to the ‘Dance Consortium’.

Artistic Director, Inês Bogéa, has been leading ‘São Paulo’ since the very beginning and knows the company better than anybody. Being a dancer, filmmaker, and writer herself; it’s clear to see why she has been credited with having built the company which has performed to thousands internationally. This particular dance presentation is made up of three different incredible masterpieces, all telling a different story whilst presenting a sense of Brazilian flare and culture. The first is Goyo Montero’s emotionally charged ‘Anthem’, the second being Nacho Duato’s sensual ‘Gnawa’, and the third is that of Cassi Abranches’ colourful and flirtatious ‘Agora’. 

As with any dance review I write, I think it only fair to write about each individual dance as its own piece. This is instead of picking out some key performances as that would just be impossible for a dance of this scale. On that note, I’d just like to say how incredible the whole company was, as they were all magnificent. All of the dancers clearly lose themselves in the moment and you can feel the passion and exchange of energy come across in that auditorium. As I’ve said before, these people aren’t just dancers – they’re athletes. So without further ado, let’s talk dance:

Anthem

This piece of dance was created in house in 2019 and is meant to reflect on life cycles and collective identities. This is inspired by songs that become hymns or – anthems – for each individual, group, generation or even nation. It’s very easy to say, that this is exactly what is portrayed through only the movement of the body. I found this piece to be raw and stripped back, using primal movements which sometimes made you feel uneasy – but there was some beauty about this. There was a constant theme of breathing, almost literally taking you through all of the highs and lows that life has to offer. It was showing the ebb and flows of life. The whole company didn’t leave the stage once, making some parts of ‘life’ feel cluttered and overwhelming, but others feel dispersed and controlled (especially when they would focus on the duets). 

The movements were powerful and I particularly liked the use of height in heightening things upstage, but lowering things downstage to keep a central focal point. The simple tonal costume, made it feel as if the dancers were in the nude, adding to the simplicity and rawness of the piece. The use of light was also incredibly simple, but the use of shadows really helped add an extra edge on top of the dance. Sometimes we would see shadows, and sometimes when the dancers were backlit all we could see were silhouettes – really helping bring across that contrast of life. The use of individual hanging lights was also incredibly powerful when the dancers were all spaced out laying on the floor. To top it all off, the music from Owen Belton was the perfect score that helped tell the story from a heartbeat, to primal music, to an army theme, and back towards a heartbeat to symbolise the end of life cycle. The constant change in volume seemed to make it feel as if you were always on the edge of a panic attack and like dancer Yoshi Suzuki said, “its symbolising both the best and worst things that society can do”. Incredible piece of dance, a story beautifully told – bravo!

Gnawa

This dance is inspired by the mystical Islamic fellowship of the Gnawa people, who were brought to North Africa by the Berber as slaves. It’s meant to bring the heat and colour to the hypnotic and ritualistic music of North Africa. This piece had everything. It was chaotic and super energetic yet all of the dancers were together in unison. The group dances were mesmerising to watch and you couldn’t take your eyes off the way in which they were moving as a unit. The duet was also gorgeous. It was tranquil, calming and beautiful – a big contrast to how this piece started. The music had shifted to the noises of nature before the pace was brought up again at the end of the piece. The lights were incredibly simple but effective, the candlelight of the Berber stands out in particular here. The seamlessness between the increase and decrease in volume and how the dancers and lights would react was perfect. 

I would say, trying to follow a particular story line to this piece was difficult. Without any background knowledge or information of it, you’d find it a lot harder to interpret. It wasn’t until afterwards that it started to properly click for me; it was all about the balance between religion and desire, heart or mind. Having said this however, it still doesn’t take away from the performance shown. You can still enjoy what is going on and interpret it in your own way. That’s the beauty of dance. A stunning piece of work. 

Agora

This final piece was again created in house in 2019 and is all about time and exploring its rhythm. This piece was beautifully well-rounded, starting and ending in the exact same way. You could instantly tell it was themed all around time because of the underlying percussive beat, resonating with the tick of a clock. This was such an athletic and energetic piece, boasting an uptempo score from Sebastian Piracés, sharing the Afro-Brazilian culture through percussion, rock, and vocals. The lights throughout always managed to highlight a focal point to focus on and gave a little bit of extra feeling through colour. The soft, sensual, and flirtatious dancing from the women seemed to entice the flirtatious sexual temptation of the men, with their contrast of big and powerful movements looking as if they had gone feral.

It seems incredibly fitting that the word for ‘time’ in Portuguese is actually ‘tempo’, and the way the constant tempo changes through the use of ticking, or flowing water (as well as just the general music) keeps the flow of the dance from stagnating. Each dancer seemed to have a different tempo to each section of music with them all fit together perfectly. It’s like visually seeing a 5 part harmony coming together. The perfect finale for the night.  

To sum up, ‘São Paulo Dance Company’ certainly brought their Brazilian heat, flare, energy and power to the stage – and its clear to see how they have pinned the name of Brazil’s finest dance company. You can really tell how hard the whole company work together, and how polished each of these dancers are. We are incredibly lucky in having the opportunity to see a company like this and that is all thanks to the ‘Dance Consortium’. I particularly like that some of the ‘Dance Consortium’ productions have a Q&A section afterwards, where you get to question some of the dancers and creatives behind what you have just watched. The aim of the ‘Dance Consortium’, is to get more people talking about dance and thus get more people watching it. I think what Artistic Director, Inês Bogéa, said in the the post show Q&A sums up what ‘São Paulo’ think perfectly, “Why can’t England and Brazil all talk about dance like we all talk about football? That is the end goal.”

‘São Paulo Dance Company’ are continuing on their UK tour until March 2024, and if dance or Brazilian flare is something that interests you then you should definitely find time to give them a watch. After all, what better time to watch them than during Brazilian carnival season? I can’t wait to see what the ‘Dance Consortium’ brings to Mayflower theatre’s stage next and I wish the whole company of ‘São Paulo’ the best of luck in the rest of their time in the UK.