Live Vibe At The Movies review September 2010 at the Lilian Baylis Theatre

The second instalment of Live Vibe came back as usual with a bang. The judges were tasked with a challenging decision: having to decide on who would progress through to the finals of Live Vibe At the Movies was no easy feat.

After Mr Impact – Hakeem Onibudo – opened the show with his natural infectious vibes and audience participation the audience were hyped and ready to rock. To keep them in the mood, first up were Anonymous. Dropping the theme music from Superman and Jaws into a gutsy soundtrack they b-boyed, locked, popped and krumped their way through to the finals.

Enigma altered the tone through focussing on a more serious subject: incarceration. Dressed in prison issue attire they strayed from the norm into hip hop and physical theatre. They portrayed the daily regime and pitfalls of prison life through dance and movement which reflected the professionalism and dedication of the group recently established in May 2010.

Infusion, also fresh in the game, presented a lively mix of dance styles to a medley of contemporary tracks. Versed in krump, street, contemporary and African dance they added a touch of funk and fun to a light hearted and well thought out choreographic piece.

Dan G and Maxwell Golden extended this light hearted theme with their poetic collusion entitled Creative Differences. They had the audience in stitches as they tried to nurture a musical collaboration through spoken word and rapping. These guys are talented and I’m sure there is plenty of room for further development of pieces of this nature.

Latoya Smith settled into the second half with her solo performance entitled Late. She confidently worked through her piece with shows of popping, boogaloo and locking. Self choreographed and directed by Hakeem Onibudo, Latoya showed that if you are going to be late, you should be late in style!

Winsome Duncan the Lyrical Healer totally won the crowd over with her magical and sultry play on words. She reminded the audience to “remember the healer in me.” Thankfully she continued with the Text2Dance section as volunteers from the audience moved in sweet unison to her poetic prowess. Watch out for the Lyrical Healer who is currently writing for local and international artists.

Closing the show was not hard for Just Us Dance who presented Life in Death. Here Life and Death are cleverly presented in the physical forms of a male and female. The female representing Life wants Death to end her existence. The male representing Death wants to be taught emotions in return. They strike a deal and Death likes what he is taught but they both become entwined in a passionate lust for life. The audience were left to decide on the ending; will he end her life or spare it? Find out in the next instalment of Live Vibe.

This piece is one of many emerging physical theatre pieces that are pushing boundaries and inspiring companies to work towards and reach certain benchmarks in taking urban dance into theatre. And that’s what Live Vibe is about providing a positive platform for such works.

So the winners of Live Vibe At the Movies are set to join Limitless on a big stage early next year. The next Live Vibe celebrates 15 years of Impact Dance with Mr Impact (Hakeem Onibudo) at the helm. Bring your whistles and horns, it’s gonna be a big one so watch this space.