Toussaint to Move: Free Review – A Joyous Celebration of Reggae Culture | Dance

A For reggae fans, and anyone in the market for an hour of simple viewing, Free belongs in the category of shows that attempt to blur the lines between dancing yourself and watching a dance. It’s something that’s difficult to achieve, melting down the fourth wall and merging these two experiences. This is not just about subconsciously giving people permission to dance, but to benefit from what the performers express – in this case, the hopeful freedom and defiant joy of reggae culture.

There are five principal dancers but these Sadler’s Wells East shows also feature a supporting cast of students and elders. It’s a wonderfully diverse setting, suggesting that everyone is invited. They keep us on our feet (there are seats for people who need them), but they also form a kind of curtain between the audience and the main performers. However, they have a good feeling.

Choreographer Achim Toussaint Pak not only created the dance, but also wrote and sang the dub, reggae and jazz-infused soundtrack for the show with his band The Magnificence. The bass comes through the speakers, and the volume is cranked up to the point of distortion, like a fuzzy-edged bullet being fired into your chest. It’s the slow heartbeat of rhythm, twos and fours, that carries the show. It feels like a call and response in your dancing, stepping on one, picking up the rhythm of your body on two. The dancers expand on this, and it echoes through them. They synchronize in comfortable routines, lost in their own worlds, movements easy and earthy, souls feeding on sounds.

The mood is one of warmth, community, smiles and a little sameness. Then one of the dancers placed his hands on his face and chest, raising his voice to call for freedom for the world and for Palestine (there have been protests over Sadler’s Wells accepting sponsorship from Barclays, which provides financial services to defense companies that supply Israel, so it’s a live topic here). He is surrounded by other dancers and is absorbed back into the dance. It’s interesting, but the party will resume soon. Free is a fun pool, but there’s probably a stronger piece of theater.