Rotor, Siobhan Davies Studios, London

Virtuous circle: ‘A Series of Appointments’ by Siobhan Davies

I have been watching Siobhan Davies as dancer, as choreographer, for more than three decades. Never have I ceased to be surprised and fascinated by what she has done, from battling (Bea Lillie of the dance) with a deckchair to making movement so quietly potent that the reaction is “I must see that again”. Latterly she has been installed in beautiful studios in south-east London – the dance space a ravishment of blond wood – and it is there that she now reveals her latest undertaking.

Rotor is a collection of artworks, performances, installations that all react to Davies’ dances. Ever aware of the implications of her choreography, Davies has brought together nine creators – musician, designer, composer, playwright, ceramicist, poet, visual artist, photographer, artist-engineer – and sought their responses to patterns of dance that she has made, to her studios, to her fascination with the interactions, the subliminal links and challenges that may exist between different disciplines.

So throughout the three floors of her studios, we can walk and see (during the next two weeks: the show ends on November 14) activities that respond to each other and to Davies’ dance. You will find a film study by Sam Collins; a poem recorded by Alice Oswald; Clare Twomey’s disturbing assembly of unfired pots, which collapse as
water is placed in them; and a ravishing, I-wish-I-owned-that revolving metal sculpture by Ben Tyers. There is photography by Alexandra Hughes, and “Stuck”, a monumental crumpled brown canvas by Angela de la Cruz reacting against movement.

In the top-floor studio, Davies’ choreography – four dancers walking, running, circling like the hands on a clock, sometimes talking – makes us look at dance with fresh eyes. There is also a nagging narrative by E.V. Crowe, a hallucinatory photographic study by Alexandra Hughes, and Matteo Fargion’s Songbook performed by the admirable dancers (Andrea Buckley, Lindsay Butcher, Annie Pui Ling Lok, Charlie Morrissey) and oddly reminiscent in its anarchies of Marinetti’s activities a century ago.

This Rotor is exhilarating, offered with the finesse that always marks Davies’ work. Stimulating and worthwhile. (