Dance Review: Henry Oguike Dance Company

Henry Oguike's original style has echoes of Africa, some street dance and plenty of strong, contemporary tools.

dance 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
dance 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Israel Festival Henry Oguike Dance Company (UK) Jerusalem Theater June 17 This young Welsh-Nigerian choreographer is a serious voice in the future of the contemporary UK dance scene. On his second visit to Israel, he presented four recent works and a troupe of a dozen strong dancers. The eclectic choice of music ranging from Vivaldi to Farid El Atrache to American-Indian ritual tunes to jazz would steer the four dance creations in different directions, so it seems. But in fact, while the dances may have had different rhythms and energy levels, the basic structure and the distinctive vocabulary was cleverly recycled and strongly present. Oguike, who grew up on two continents, moved from street hip-hop to contemporary stage dance, and as a budding choreographer he hopped directly to Shostakovich piano concerto. This bold act fitted his bold technique to perfection, while his cultural background is responsible for his original style that has echoes of Africa, some street dance and plenty of strong, contemporary tools. Six dancers in red velvet dresses opened the program in Little Red and gave a spectacular introduction to Oguike's style. Each dancer had a solo that allowed her to showcase her best, and soon it was clear that they all were great. But one captivating dancer, Fukiko Takase, was clearly more zealous than the rest, pushing herself to the limits and identifying with a wild energy on a deep, inner level. As the evening progressed, it was clear that the company's female cast was stronger than the four men. Their roles were far more complex and the wonderfully ferocious energy they conveyed overshadowed their male colleagues.