Living Image: Chapter 1 review – five days to reanimate a legendary show you’ve never seen

Siobhan Davies Studios, London
Watching a group of artists produce new work based on Davies’s 1977 classic Sphinx, which none of them know, makes for a rewarding evening

The project: five choreographers create new dances in response to Siobhan Davies’ 1977 solo Sphinx. A potential glitch: they’ve never actually seen Sphinx. The starting point for this year-long project (there will be 20 choreographers by the end) is not a gimmick, but typical of the ever-questioning Davies, now 75, who was one of the pioneers of contemporary dance in the UK.

Instead of showing them the dance, Davies talked to the group about her experiences making Sphinx nearly 50 years ago, and what that felt like (Davies was inhabiting her animal self in a very graceful solo, which you can see when the film is shown post-performance). Our attention is drawn to process, something often frustratingly hidden from an audience, who see just an iceberg’s tip of what goes into creating a dance and what a performer might be feeling inside their spine, their muscles, their organs, their imagination.

At Siobhan Davies Studios, London, until 3 July. The next chapter will take place in November
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