Review: BalletBoyz, Deluxe (streamed via Sadlers Wells Facebook page) - stunning and mesmerising
30/03/2020
Last year I was introduced to the BalletBoyz and their show Them/Us moved me to tears. I was looking forward to their new show Deluxe which, fortunately, was filmed before theatres closed and is available to watch online (details below).
Like Them/Us it is two pieces separated by an interval, each has a behind the scenes style intro which explains a bit about how the pieces were developed and their themes.
Bradley 4.18 is the first piece and depicts the different reasons why someone might be awake in the early hours, exploring different personalities.
The music is jazz-influenced and that was a problem for me because I'm not a huge jazz fan, particularly the more free-form stuff.
It made it difficult to fully bond with the piece although it didn't stop me appreciating the individual expressionism in the early parts and the intricacy and precision of the later sections when the dancing became more collaborative.