"The brainchild of former dancer Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, Ballet Nights' founder and artistic director, it was originally billed as "a new way of seeing dance". I would, however, amend that to read, "an interesting way of breathing new life into the gala format". So, like a gala, each programme consists of short numbers - 11 in the case of DecaDance - but rather than tired old chestnuts, they range from ballet to contemporary dance, established numbers and new commissions, performed by star dancers and promising unknowns."
"The whole thing is compèred by the amiable Devernay-Laurence to impart easily digestible morsels of much-needed information. Each of the two Acts begins with an instrumental piece. DecaDance opened with Debussy's ethereal 'Clair de Lune' by Ballet Nights' resident pianist Viktor Erik Emanuel; in glaring contrast, Act II was introduced by an angry snatch from Hindemith's 'Viola Sonata Op 25 No 1' played by Dominic Stokes, on his return to Ballet Nights."
DecaDance marked the tenth London presentation of Ballet Nights at Cadogan Hall and was judged the strongest edition so far. Jamiel Devernay-Laurence conceived and directs Ballet Nights, shaping the evening as a refreshed gala of eleven short pieces that mix classical and contemporary styles. Programmes combine established repertoire, new commissions, star performers and emerging dancers, increasingly featuring international guests. Devernay-Laurence compèred, offering brief contextual remarks. Each act opened with instrumental pieces: Debussy's "Clair de Lune" by Viktor Erik Emanuel in Act I and an excerpt from Hindemith's Viola Sonata by Dominic Stokes in Act II. Highlights included Moszkowski Waltz by Harris Bell and Sae Maeda and George Liang's Out of Breath danced by Alessandra Bramante and Joseph Taylor, a dark meditation on the pressures of time.
Read at London Unattached
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