Enraptured by intense adventure of self discovery

By Susie Weldon
Apr 7, 2010

White Caps: The Champloo Dance Company performed at Bristol Old Vic

White Caps
Bristol Old Vic
Wed March 31 to Sat April 3

By Susie Weldon

This extraordinary and imaginative performance by Bristol-based Champloo Dance Company drew enthusiastic applause from a packed studio audience — and confirmed, once again, that under its new artistic director Tom Morris, Bristol Old Vic is hosting some of the most creative and exciting shows in the city.

White Caps follows the journey of two men as they embark on an adventure of self-discovery. Short at just under an hour and intense, it had us enraptured from the beginning.

Written and directed by Willie Branson, and performed on stage by Branson and Joel Daniel, it is a mix of live b-boying (breakdancing), moving image and music, all melded together in a fluid, powerful and moving performance.

The live dance was interspersed with video footage of scenes shot on location in Bristol, the New Forest and the Brecon Beacons (which also included a third dancer Shantale Pepe) by photographer Rob Saunders.

Both included moments of astonishing beauty, while clever trickery in the film editing has us memerised — Bristol’s cascade steps looked on the video as though they were located on a wild, windswept mountain side, for example. Principal composer Luke Harvey also deserves a mention for the wonderful music; altogether a fantastic production.