Renowned for his vigorous style and strong sense of musicality, Jerwood Choreography award winner Henri Oguike presents four contrasting and musically diverse dance pieces, which include his brand new creation Little Red and the acclaimed Front Line, accompanied live by a string quartet. The companys eight dancers, with Oguike himself appearing on stage, perform to music by Vivaldi, Shostakovich, Ali Farka Touré and Steve Martland. Henri Oguike Dance Company performs at Nottingham Playhouse for one night only on Tuesday 3 April at 8pm (Box Office: 0115 941 9419 or www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk).
Two of Vivaldi’s magnificent violin concerti breathe fire into Oguike’s premiere Little Red. Oguike responds to the flourishes of the ’Red Priest’ with boldly sensual choreography. Bathed in red light, the dancers contrast rhythmic and expressive movement against silkily soft and understated gestures.
Tiger Dancing is a bright and animated work inspired by William Blake’s poem The Tyger. A specially commissioned score by leading UK composer Steve Martland is full of plucked strings and springy lines, reflected in the dancers’ sinuous and feline movements.
Henri Oguike holds the stage himself in the intense yet reflective solo Expression Lines. Dancing to the quietly beautiful Saharan blues of guitarist Ali Farka Touré, Oguike evokes the harsh contrasts of equatorial sand and sky.
The bill is completed by the searing and poignant Front Line, a key signature work for the company. This urgent and muscular piece for six dancers is performed to Shostakovich’s 9th Quartet in E Flat, played live by the Pavâo Quartet. The current tour offers the last chance to experience this critically acclaimed dance work.
Since being proclaimed ’Most Outstanding New Dance Company’ in the Time Out Live Awards 2001, Henri Oguike Dance Company has built an international following. With all its work choreographed by Oguike himself, the company’s hallmark is its passionate, often audacious response to an eclectic range of music.
Born in West Glamorgan, Nigerian/Welsh choreographer Henri Oguike took the first steps in his career as a teenager through a chance discovery of breakdancing. After studying music, drama and dance at Swansea College, he trained at the London Contemporary Dance School and became a founder member of the Richard Alston Dance Company. He was impelled to turn his hand to choreography following a tendon injury and founded his own company in 1999. Henri Oguike Dance Company’s tours during 2007 include China, Austria and the USA.
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