You can pack a lot into 50 minutes: hip hop, Lindy hop, Charleston and tap dance; text, music, comedy, racial politics, magic, even. It’s credit to choreographer/director Ivan Blackstock that this Harlem Renaissance-inspired concoction dances along easily with flow and panache, even if it doesn’t quite have the dramatic depth it aspires to.
It’s 1932 and two Southern boys, Sal and Mo, move to New York with just a dance act and an American dream. Sal (a confident Darren Charles) tells the story. In fact, he’s the only character who speaks — everything else is expressed through movement. It’s a neat device that only falters at moments of high drama where we just don’t get enough friction from a solo voice.
The energetic dancing comes in bright, short bursts, against Soweto Kinch’s jazz ’n’ beats soundtrack and Blackstock brings accents of hip hop into the vintage dance styles (gold star for the flappers-cum-krumpers).
As the dream turns sour, the show suddenly climaxes with a bigger idea about the legacy of black artists today, but it’s not built on solid enough foundations to have a real impact. Still, there’s more than enough crammed in to enjoy here.
Until Nov 1 (020 7922 2922, youngvic.org)
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