Witnessing the world premiere of The Belt by the Ambiguous Dance Company is as breathtaking as seeing Michael Clark dance for the first time in the 1980s or discovering immersive theatre with Punchdrunk in the early 2000s. The subcultures that inspired the former have long become mainstream and site-specific performances are now quite commonplace – Ambiguous combine elements of both and reignite the excitement of a coarser and less polished London while being utterly unique and unmistakably Korean.
The Coronet Theatre operated as a cinema for longer than it has ever been a theatre. Since it was taken over by The Print Room ten years ago it has slowly and gently been returned to its original use. The auditorium is now a bit smaller than previously with part of the original stalls converted into a quirky bar, and a studio space around the back reserved for more experimental projects.
The Victorian building is a bit of a maze and there are parts that are not normally accessible to the public – until now. For the first part of the performance, the audience is divided into small groups and led up and down backstage corridors to individually themed rooms where performances occur simultaneously. The order of my tour made perfect sense as a history of contemporary dance and an introduction to the award-winning repertoire of Ambiguous Dance Company.
The buzz of anticipation was palpable as audience members waited in the bar, only some spotting the man in a boiler who walked up to a blackboard in the back of the room and started drawing a simple yet mysterious diagram. Soon the bar would become the “Room of Creation” with a couple of dancers in white suits and sunglasses illustrating the connection between music and dance by retracing the diagram in time to Ravel’s Boléro before reinterpreting the classical piece in untraditional and unconventional moves.
We were led up and down stairs, out into the street and back into another door to reach the “Room of Persistence” where a single dancer in a jumpsuit – and sunglasses – stood on a small square and performed using just four distinct movements to a variety of 4/4 tunes before breaking free with Michael Jackson.
One of the visual highlights of the show is a visit to the Cupola on the theatre’s roof and a close look at Gavin Turk’s sculpture The Spirit of Painting on its dome – unfortunately photography is not permitted. A dancer in a white jumpsuit and colourful balaclava invited each visitor into the “Room of Identity” with a handshake. The most intimate performance of contemporary moves to a Korean folk song surrounded by audience members sat on carpets and scatter cushions against the round walls of the small tower room.
This was followed by the least comfortable set in the theatre’s basement, aptly named the “Room of Struggle and Solitude” where a bare chested dancer in a ridiculous outfit of inside out bathing trunks, knitted cap and sunglasses kept throwing himself on the floor, barely protected by the sheets of cardboard covering the bare concrete floor. He then gently took two audience members by the hand to lead the group to a grim scene in a tiled cell. Another sole dancer, dressed in camouflage fatigues and a black plastic bag covering his head, gave the most distressing performance of the evening.
It was a relief to be led back upstairs to the “Room of Communication” behind the main bar. A dancer dressed head to toe in sequins and the obligatory sunglasses treated the audience to some easy to follow dance routines and turned the former boiler room into an aerobic dance studio, all set for Part 2.
Taking our pre-assigned seats in the main auditorium was the most conventional act of the evening. The main piece started slowly with just two figures, one moving slowly and silently across the stage before dancers joined from all sides. The music started pumping and for the next hour we were immersed in the coolest club night in London.
It was difficult to sit still while the most energetic performance unfolded on stage. The undefinable and genre-defying labels in the promotional blurb ring true with a performance unlike anything that came before. Thrilling to recognise some of the movements of the earlier pieces and to try and make out the individual characters. Still wearing sunglasses, but now all dressed in black and channelling cultural references from punks and rockers to Madonna, goth and fetish clubs to hijabs, the eight dancers merge hip hop moves and techno beats, all presented with a subtle pinch of humour.
The Belt – Past & Future by Ambiguous Dance Company runs until Saturday 14 September at The Coronet Theatre, 103 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3LB
Meike Brunkhorst is a cultural entrepreneur and freelance writer who uses her marketing communications expertise to support independent artists and cultural organisations. Her particular interests lie in international and intersectional collaborations, the amplification of underrepresented voices, and cultural practices that address environmental and ecological concerns.
