The Place, London.
15 May 2026.
I’m intrigued settling down to watch the one-act work, GRAVITY, by Ryu and Friends as part of A Festival of Korean Dance 2026, themed on the universe in motion, happy to have no interval to break the flow!
A crash in the dark draws a hush, a reverberating drone and there’s a creeping sense of movement on the stage. A single spotlight – starlike – illuminated a trembling cluster of dancers in metallic silver costumes of individual design, arms round one another. They dissipated like atoms, as soon as we could see them, into predominantly male-female partnerships, with sharp, rhythmically responsive movement to this metallic soundscape, which is at times unsettlingly loud.
I like the intensity and energy of the work being at floor level with the audience tiered above them. Unique floorwork as the dancers rebounded off one another; there’s a lot to look at – it’s a busy stage! Occasional freezeframes built tension and atmosphere and there’s a lot of play with heavy weight and falling techniques. In general, it’s mesmerising to watch – the work evolved in continuous bursts of frenetic, agitated action. It’s so highly active, that the opposing slow section can be felt around the corner before it arrives.
Impressively swift tumbling and gymnastic vocabulary was incorporated seamlessly into the stylistic choreography. It was easy to absorb yourself into this well-rehearsed work; it looked effortless as they blended intricate floor and standing work. There were a lot of duets, solos, small groups running on into the central pool of light in this section and running off again as they were replaced. The music and the movement matched well; frenzied, relentless. Then, stillness came – and haze seeped onto the stage, hugging the floor and eventually rising, while offstage but visible, a fire lamp was lit and carried reverently onto the stage.
An interesting male-only section experimented with push and pull effects, with swooping lifts. Followed by females, entering slowly with a sense of calm, and hugely extended bellies – Pilates balls with a dress squeezed over the top.
The calm ebbed away and soon we were watching the developing dynamic, almost violent, trio between two men and a woman. And after a brief blackout (which maybe stunted the flow a little) a dancer entered the stage and walked towards the back of it, with a flame alight on his head. Advancing towards and then past other dancers, crackling to be heard in the soundscape.
I liked the noisy human interactions that came next, probably amplified because of our close proximity to the stage. Hitting, slapping, kicking, noisy footsteps on the floor, pushing, pulling and standing and lying on one another. At times it was slightly uncomfortable to watch.
Dancers orbited around a black central pilates ball in the end. A melodic even mournful piano melody in the background; the ball stayed motionless in the air and different hands and feet arrived continuously to take over its support. All hands on and then all floated away for a very picturesque end. This group of very talented and physically expressive and daring performers certainly delivered tonight.
By Louise Ryrie of Dance Informa.
