Alleyne Dance Far From Home: Review

Twin sisters Kristina and Sadé Alleyne are the talented dancers behind the company ‘Alleyne Dance’ whose latest production, ‘Far From Home’ captures the intense struggles and emotions that come from forced migration. Kristina and Sadé, choreographed this dance show, combining abstract dance with commanding sound to bring the topic to life with powerful effect.

Alleyne Dance has previously won the award ‘Black Female icons of Lewisham’ as well as ‘Best Independent Company’ at the National Dance awards. Using a combination of West African, Hip hop, Caribbean styles in their work, Alleyne Dance manages to create a unique medley of dance. The organisation must be commended on picking an emotive and real-world topic for this production.

Alleyne Dance Far From Home Photo Camilla Greenwell

Opening with haunting music and dim lighting, a silhouette is visible, bound by ropes. All displayed through swift movement, the person is torn apart from a fellow figure on stage, capturing the audience’s attention immediately.

This production consists of six main dancers, two of whom are the Alleyne twins who bring impressive fluidity. Alongside these six are the Alleyne interns and a local community cast who periodically appear on stage. Sadé, performing in blue, forms a particularly strong connection with the audience, making the complex choreography look easy.

Remaining open to interpretation throughout, the show focuses on conveying mood and emotions rather than telling a singular story. A theme of separation and loss is prevalent, where several dancers moving in unison to loud music often reduces to a single performer in silence.

Minimal scenery on stage doesn’t stop the production from showing a shift in mood or location. Through purely lighting and sound, the audience is taken from a dangerous warlike setting to a dark, solemn seashore where bodies lay strewn. This all-too-real depiction is sobering. Erratic movements and eery music make the experience uncomfortable where necessary and leave some ambiguous scenes. Arguably, the production could have benefitted from more clarity in places as there are parts of this show left very open ended.

The major success of this show is the way the mood is emulated. Despite the ambiguity, the audience, no doubt, can feel the tone of dance and sympathise with those on stage. For much of the performance, the dark stage reflects the negative mental headspace of the migrants and internal battle. Only on a few occasions, does the theatre brighten and the expressions of the dancers change. These moments come in times of friendship and reunification which are acted through the dance.

The integration of the migrants into communities is represented in later scenes in which almost the entirety of the dancers are on stage. The mood is lifted and the style more hopeful, yet the struggles are in no way forgotten. With the dancers in perfect sync, they seem to communicate through beats made from stamping and clapping. The merging of the different groups is executed well, with clear hesitancy shown through body language.

This dance production is a credit to the Alleyne company as it so convincingly depicted conflict and emotion in impressive dance form.