Dorrance Dance, Myelination and other works, Sadler's Wells

Critics on both sides of the Atlantic are fast running out of adjectives to praise Michelle Dorrance. Described by The New Yorker as 'one of the most imaginative tap choreographers working today,' multi-award winner Michelle Dorrance is widely credited as having dragged tap dance – the quintessential American dance form – into the 21st century.

A mean tap dancer herself, Dorrance has extended the possibilities of the genre beyond what was thought possible and blended it with other forms such as break dance. Add a floor wired for sound amplifying the rhythmic taps of Dorrance Dance’s company of 11 and dialoguing with a live band on stage, and you have a novel, hugely enthusing kind of dance show.

Dorrance Dance returns to Sadler’s Wells after a two-year absence with a triple bill: Myelination and other works.

Myelination, which gives the bill its name, takes its title from science, namely the term for the formation of myelin sheaths around axons, a process which speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses.

You can see how perfectly that process fits with tap, a form of dance so reliant on syncopated rhythms not unlike electrical impulses.

Myelination includes two break dancers, as well as a live band on stage, which at times is joined by the multi-tasking dancers Warren Craft (pictured, top) on guitar and Nicholas Van Young on drums.

The second piece of the programme is the Bessie-award winning Three to One, a seamless blend of tap and contemporary dance, which puts a tap-shod Dorrance between two barefoot dancers, thus highlighting the contrast between bare feet and hard shoes.

The third work in the bill, Jungle Blues, is set in New Orleans and features music by Branford Marsalis. It’s a short, fast, and humourous piece, where sinuous dance and acrobatic feats come together in exhilarating fashion.