Nobody does it better
ROZ LAWS PREVIEWS MOTIONHOUSE’S STORY OF LOCKDOWN ISOLATION PLUS ITS SPECTACULAR OPENING SHOW OF THE BIRMINGHAM 2022 FESTIVAL
An incredible ensemble piece, it’s impossible to look away” Review of Nobody
KEVIN Finnan wants to make you cry and smile. He’s been moving audiences to tears with his new show – but he hopes they leave feeling uplifted.
Nobody is the title of the latest production from the Warwickshirebased dance-circus company Motionhouse, playing Birmingham Hippodrome on February 4.
“I wanted it to be a physically dynamic show but also to be emotionally engaging,” explains Kevin, Motionhouse’s co-founder and artistic director. “I hope people feel what we’re trying to communicate.”
It’s a busy time for Kevin in Birmingham, as he’s also creating and directing Wondrous Stories in the city in March. The spectacular free outdoor show, presented by Birmingham 2022 Festival, will take over Centenary Square to mark the start of the city’s six-month cultural festival around the Commonwealth Games.
For that, everyone will get a chance to be part of the drama and excitement by sharing their own story. You can post your words in a postbox which has just been unveiled in the Library of Birmingham.
But first comes Nobody, which has been captivating audiences and generating excellent reviews since its world premiere in London in September.
One critic described it as “an incredible ensemble piece, it’s impossible to look away”, while another said “the dancers’ total commitment and trust hold the audience in spellbound silence making a moment of theatrical magic”.
Nobody uses dance-circus skills
to tell the story of isolation during lockdown, then the joy of coming together again.
Kevin says: “We weren’t able to perform for 18 months during the pandemic we did wonder what it was going to be like coming back, so to have such a terrific response to the new show was very positive for us all.
“Performing to live audiences is what we live for. Our first night back was very moving. And the show, because it’s informed by our experiences during the pandemic, heightened that emotion.
“We want people to have an emotional journey as they watch Nobody. Some have cried, but ultimately it’s an uplifting experience.’’
Nobody’s two shows at the Hippodrome are particularly special for Junior Cunningham, as it’s a return to his home city for the boy from Handsworth Wood. Dance saved him as a teenager in danger of going off the rails and now he’s giving opportunities to more young people by choreographing a Curtain Raiser.
As the company’s rehearsal director, he’s directing a seven-minute piece which will be presented before the evening performance of Nobody on February 4. It features 20 young dancers, aged from 14 to 19, found through the Hippodrome’s work in city schools.
Junior admits he was “quite a bad kid” until his older sister found him a place to study dance at Walsall College and he turned his life around. This year he celebrates 20 years with Motionhouse first as a dancer and then as rehearsal director.
He says: “One of my dreams was always to dance on the Hippodrome stage. Unfortunately, I
retired from performing six months before Motionhouse first played there. But it’s a real honour to have my work on that stage.
“I was trying to whittle the cast down to 12 but I ended up with 20 people, as they were all so brilliant. I’m jealous, they are better than I was at that age.
“I’m thrilled to be working with young people on Wondrous Stories, too. This is the year of Birmingham and I’m
so proud of my home city.”
Wondrous Stories launches the £12 million Birmingham 2022 Festival four months before the Games. It’s
directed by Kevin, who also choreographed the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and brought a life-sized ocean liner to Victoria Square in Birmingham for The Voyage.
He’s working with choreographers Jamaal Burkmar and Sonia Sabri and local poets Raza Hussain and Sebbie Mudhai. Motionhouse will be joined by 250 young dancers from the Critical Mass project run by DanceXchange, along with inclusive wheelchair dance group Freewheelin and The Choir with No Name, founded to include homeless people. Students from Birmingham City University are designing the costumes with support from costume designer Sophie Donaldson.
A giant book will come flying down from the roof of the Library of Birmingham and a huge globe will rise up from the ground. There’ll be formation dancing in the fountains and phoenixes whizzing over the audience’s heads on zip wires.
Kevin says: “The show is about our stories. Our lives are built from stories, of our ancestors and each other, and it’s our common stories which hold us all together. Each person in the city has a story to tell and we want the show to celebrate that.”
Junior adds: “We’d like to get as many people involved as possible and we want to hear your story via our Wondrous Stories post box – which also exists as a digital platform. “The stories can be whatever you want to share – your everyday life, what Birmingham and the region means to you, or what’s important to you. It can be as short as one sentence or longer.”
Nobody plays Birmingham Hippodrome on February 4 and Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, from April 27-30. Wondrous Stories will be performed seven times in Centenary Square from March 17-20.