Sardoville's new production A Matter of Impression, given its London première at Chisenhale Dance Space in June, juxtaposes two dance pieces and two distinct choreographic voices.
The first, Impressed Upon, is a reworking of Sardoville’s The Dancing Plague; the second, Attempting to Impress, is a new work by Luca Silvestrini. Both will be performed by Sardoville’s dancers, Phil Sanger, Azzurra Ardovini and Josh Wille.
Impressed Upon explores the ‘dancing plague’ that swept Europe in the 1500s and the dance marathons of the 1930s and investigates the different ways in which people connect with and access dance as a means of expression and escapism.
Attempting to Impress by Silvestrini is a show about a show, a response to the company members’ ongoing enquiry into their own relationship with dance and their places within the world of performance.
Delivered in the company’s deconstructive style, Sardoville replaces the traditional interval to bring the backstage into view with choreographed set and costume changes. The evening becomes a single work, half of which is created in-house and half created by a guest dance maker.