Like all the best firework displays, this highly visceral large-scale outdoor spectacle begins with a tangible fizz and culminates in a breathtaking finale. Plenty of sparkle is provided along the way courtesy of the fusion between Wayne McGregor and Random Dance’s slick choreography, Pan Optikum’s stunning pyrotechnic and projection work and Scanner’s atmospheric soundscapes. The sweeping breadth and ambition of the project is impressive, with one hundred local people of varying experience being directly involved as performers, working alongside professional dancers to create the opening contemporary and hip-hop based dance sequences.
The audience experience is heightened by the epic scale and site-specific nature of the piece: thousands of us meander down the darkened reach of Margate’s seafront to jostle for position, hoping to gain the best view. A variety of stages have been constructed on the sands and here the performance begins, as local dancers in muted shades echo the movement of the sea in some innovative and tight contemporary choreography. Space is utilised to good effect with dancers springing between stages to make the most of available sight lines, and the level of focus and commitment to the task is outstanding. From here the spectacle gains real momentum with the imaginative use of images beamed on to buildings to make them appear to be flooding. This oceanic imagery is all around and used to great effect in the soundscapes of crashing waves, the precise movement of bodies, and the use of large rolling clear orbs whose flowing movement through the audience is mimicked again by projections.
The event culminates with fiery finality utilising amazing pyrotechnics. Acrobatic dancers are suspended on moving poles high above the crowds, seemingly plunging and diving through the fireworks and flames. Sparks appear to issue from their feet and the air is electric with anticipation and disbelief. As a community focused spectacle of huge proportions Blink cannot be faulted in terms of engagement, inclusion and sheer awe of scale. Structurally, I would perhaps have liked to see the piece begin with more of an impact, due to the fact that as an audience member it was initially difficult to determine where my focus should be. However, this soon became clear thanks to some carefully planned staging. The audience response seemed to be mixed with regards to the initial dance sequences, but nonetheless this struck me as being a very significant event in terms of bringing new audiences to contemporary performance and using outdoor space in such an intriguing and multidisciplinary way.
www.randomdance.org / www.theater-panoptikum.de / www.scannerdot.com