As part of the ongoing Dancin’ Oxford Spring Festival, Richard Chappell Dance returned to the Oxford Playhouse on 4th March for the Oxford leg of the tour of their new show, Hot House. The hour-long show promised to combine a protest in response to the cost of living crisis with a party, and as this was my first experience of a totally non-verbal dance show I was intrigued how choreography could achieve such lofty aims.
The show certainly didn’t start as a party: a solo violinist was the first performer to appear, gradually joined by additional dancers as she delivered a mournful string solo that was note perfect and reminiscent of a film score. The accompanying movements of the dancers were initially slow, mesmerising in how precise and controlled they were. I couldn’t see at this stage the protest element either, since that word often implies cacophony and messiness, which was the opposite of the atmosphere in this segment.
However, one of the predominant images highlighted by the programme that helped to make much more sense of this segment was fire. The concept of fire was chosen as a focus, so the programme explained, for its connection to the ‘commodification of heat’ that the choreographer sees as partly responsible for everything becoming impossibly expensive. The slow start and the gradual building up of the number of performers thus reflected a fire starting with a single spark, then spreading to glowing embers. I found that the dancers’ movements were so in sync (in a way that had to be seen to be believed) that they were moving like inanimate objects subjected to a force, rather than individual living beings. The initial impression this conjured was of droplets of liquid moving around in a shaken container, such that the phrase ‘fluid movement’ was given a whole new significance.
Fire was further conveyed through the choices of colour, in the lighting as well as the costumes: different shades of red. Possibly the most evocative colour in the context: at times, gestures which would otherwise have seemed mild were by turns passionate, angry, lustful and warm. The red costumes turned each performer into an individual flame or spark, while the red lighting at times created an infernal quality.
Those red costumes also introduced unsettling elements - one of the dancers constantly had to pull his top (an open waistcoat) back down over his torso as it kept getting in the way or out of place whenever he moved. This apparent wardrobe malfunction must have been deliberate since the costumes are clearly designed with such purpose, leading me to question why an apparent barrier to the slickness of the performance was left in. It was, I must suppose, a demonstration of material conditions getting in the way of human self expression. This is poignant in linking the medium of the show with its theme: art has of course been hampered in many ways by the cost of living crisis, from individuals having less disposable income to spend on art to the theatres, arts collectives, councils, schools and charities being squeezed by funding cuts.
Like a growing fire that suddenly catches, there was a fairly abrupt tonal shift whereby the music changed from slow and mournful to punchy disco, accompanied by the dancers’ energy suddenly ramping up much further, evoking a flash mob. This was, I felt, a more accessible segment, since the dancing was more familiar to the kind of dancing that non-professional dancers might do, releasing tension by bopping up and down (albeit in a much more coordinated way than I could ever manage!) - not to detract from the technically breathtaking shapes that were thrown in the more abstract parts.
I can’t claim that I came away feeling any better or more galvanised about our political situation. However I did feel challenged, curious and extremely grateful to have the opportunity to witness something so unusual. This was unfortunately a one-off performance but this is not the first time that Richard Chappell Dance has graced the Playhouse’s stage and I can confidently predict it won’t be the last, judging by the audience response. I would recommend snapping up the next opportunity to watch this fascinating troupe of performers in the flesh, and to catch some of the rest of the Dancin’ Oxford festival.