✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Dance

Bengolea/Chaignaud, DFS Review ★★★★★

23 Apr 18 – 24 Apr 18, 19:30 Dur.: 1 hour approx.

Cecilia Bengolea and François Chaignaud lose their way with DFS, a work that purports to fuse ballet, renaissance polyphony and Jamaican dancehall

By Teresa Guerreiro on 24/4/2018

Cecilia Bengolea & François Chaignaud, DFS, photo Hervé Véronèse
Cecilia Bengolea & François Chaignaud, DFS, photo Hervé Véronèse
Bengolea/Chaignaud, DFS Review 2 Bengolea/Chaignaud, DFS Review Teresa Guerreiro
It seemed a good idea. François Chaignaud is a graduate of the Paris Conservatoire of Dance. Ballet: tick. He has a special interest in medieval vocal polyphony. Music: tick. Buenos Aires-born Cecilia Bengolea has travelled to Jamaica and immersed herself in Kingston's dance culture. Dancehall: tick.


Put them all together, assemble a small group of dancers that can more or less handle the three and what do you get? DFS. What you don’t get is any kind of coherent concept that might hold the three together.


It all starts promisingly enough, with the stage divided into two parallel stains of very diffused light. In one, barely distinguishable, two women sing eerie polyphony. In the other a male figure does a slow motion dancehall routine.


You could take that to mean that, although such forms are entirely separate, they can – and should! – be blended. Or not.


In any case, soon the stage is lit, revealing a single bright red performing rectangle. Three women in pointe shoes start on pseudo-ballet steps, before abandoning themselves (sort of) to the more contemporary language of street dance, the blocks of their shoes helping thump the rhythm on the floor.


By now the music has transitioned to recorded rap. Chaignaud comes on performing a dreamy, highly stylised kind of street-inspired dance; and soon two genuine dancehall performers from Jamaica, Damion BG Dancerz and Craig Black Eagle aka Dragon Eagle come on. They alone have earned the stars of this review.


Their dancing is superb; that of their fellow performers less so; and there is some cringe-making pointe work from one or two of the female dancers.


And that’s it, really. Half-way through Damion takes the microphone, summons volunteers from the audience onto the stage – many respond enthusiastically – and teaches them a few Jamaican dancehall moves, culminating in champion sprinter Usain Bolt’s signature move, ‘The Lightning Bolt.’


Volunteers returned to their seats, there follows another 10 minutes or so of dancing and prancing from the entire cast. Polyphony returns periodically. It's all rather strained and pointless, despite the surface jollity.


The whole performance lasts just over 50 minutes, and although that seems mercifully short, in reality it feels a lot longer, particularly when you realise it’s going nowhere. Watching Damion BG Dancerz and Dragon Eagle is enjoyable and entertaining – in our view, it's the only positive in this strange mishmash of a show.


by Teresa Guerreiro

What Bengolea/Chaignaud, DFS Review
Where Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN | MAP
Nearest tube Angel (underground)
When 23 Apr 18 – 24 Apr 18, 19:30 Dur.: 1 hour approx.
Price £20
Website Click here to book via Sadler's Well website



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
Helena Bonham Carter in Nolly, ITVX (Photo: ITV)
What to watch on TV this week
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2023

Editor's Picks

Windrush, Phoenix Dance Theatre
Phoenix Dance Theatre, Windrush Review
BalletBoyz, Fourteen Days, photo Panayiotis Sinnos
BalletBoyz, Fourteen Days, Sadler's Wells
Clarke Peters' Tap America
BBC Four Dance Season - Tap America
Shechter II, SHOW, photo Gabrielle Zucca
Shechter II, SHOW Review
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Sushi Tetsu

    Feast on top-notch sushi, sashimi and udon at the sophisticated Sushi Tetsu. This tiny shrine to the best of Japanese food has only half a dozen seats at the counter, so advanced booking is definitely necessary.

    Read more...
    Book Map

Cecilia Bengolea

François Chaignaud

DFS

Sadler's Wells

Jamaican Dancehall

vocal polyphony



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×