Between Olas | NUDO
Combining cultural and contemporary dance, Between Olas, the first full-length production from dance company NUDO, is a powerful and compelling work. Utilizing various forms of dance, movement, and multimedia, it explore the vastness of the sea and all its beauty, mystery and, at times, chaotic nature.
Oceans can be a very strange, majestic, and mysterious wonder. Nudo’s talented dance crew creatively protrayed and expressed this on stage, along with humanity’s complex relationship with the sea. Guided by Yasmin Coronado Veranes’s intricate choregraphy, the performers’s vison truly shined for the duration of the piece.
All images: Jade Ellis.
It was evident how dedicated the performers are at their craft. Each performer excelled in what they do, both bringing their own cultures to the stage, and performing in sync with each other, culminating in the dance routines coming off as flawless. There was a good variety in the routines with some having more of an upbeat feel to them and others going into a more emotional and confronting state. I enjoyed how seamless it could go from the traditional cultural dances to the more contemporary, and then also being able to weave the multiple styles together.
Many of the costumes were fantastic. A lot of thought went into each design by Suzi Coronado Veranes. They complimented each scene with some costumes featuring a more modern and simplistic look and others with a more traditional look with an emphasis on culture and heritage.
The multimedia aspects of the show were done well with the music choices creating extra dynamics to each performance and the lighting effects adding to the atmosphere. What really stood out to me though was the use of a projector where on screen we would see a short video with a quote relating to the sea. These visual elements would be used to transition from scene to scene and give each performance a greater theme and story.
All images: Jade Ellis.
Between Olas succeeds at knowing what it wants to be. I found myself engaged throughout and with it only being a shorter work, I never found it to drag at any point. Having the overarching themes and stories told throughout really gave it a voice without there being dialogue, but there was also still an ambiguity to it where it can make you think and come up with your own interpretations of what was unfolding.
Anyone who is interested in dance, whether it is more traditional, urban, or contemporary ,will have a fun time at Between Olas, and it’s a show that is suitable for people of all ages. It’s a work that I would like to revisit again at some point, as I think it’s the kind of performance that you could see multiple times and learn something new with each viewing.
NUDO take us on a great voyage navigating through different waves of dance and as the show came to an end, many in the audience showed their appreciation. For their first full-length work, Between Olas is very impressive and I am interested in seeing what the future of this work will be and what the company will come up with next.
