There are several reasons for Joss Arnott to call this programme of his work 5/0. Arnott’s touring triple bill culminates with the fifth piece the young British choreographer has made since forming his eponymous company five years ago. This new dance features original music played live by the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who celebrated her 50th birthday this year. What’s more, Arnott’s company consists of five female dancers.
The evening does not begin prepossessingly; 24, a quartet dating from 2012, displays the hallmarks of Arnott’s dynamic yet limited, derivative style — bare stage, moody lighting, loud music (James Keane’s pounding recorded score) and high-octane dancing devoid of the human touch. The leggy cast oozes, scrabbles and twists its way through the piece, the dancers occasionally flinging their heads back or contrasting swift, high kicks with low, sinuous lunges. They are physically capable yet vacant vessels whose animal energy is reduced to machine-like predictability.
Last year’s solo V, danced with considerable proficiency by Emily Pottage, is meant to be more emotive but continues in a similar vein. It’s an abstract and soulless technical exercise revealing little about the person executing it. It doesn’t help that Keane’s string score is played at a painfully high volume.
The new work Wide Awakening is a partial improvement, mainly because of the presence of Glennie, positioned behind either drum kit or xylophone. Her music is more strong than subtle, its resonance and pulse electronically enhanced. Punctuated by power surges of light and sound, the piece starts with a blast (take earplugs).
Apart from a shape-shifting, adagio solo, Arnott’s choreography once again fixates on surface impact in lieu of anything more substantial. The dancers seem to give their all, at times moving as if their lithe bodies might crack open, but their skills are deployed in a creative vacuum.
Oct 22, Riverfront, Newport; Oct 24, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. Touring to Nov 21; jossarnottdance.com