Anybody familiar with the history of the Welsh language and the campaign to save it from dying out in recent years will have heard of the Welsh Not. For those unaware, it was a wooden sign which some schoolchildren in Wales were forced to wear around their necks if they were ever caught speaking Welsh. The board would be passed from child to child depending on who was last caught speaking Welsh, and the child left with it at the end of the day was punished.
It was part of a concerted effort in the early Victorian era to stamp out Welsh and drive it into extinction, but luckily attitudes changed toward the language in the 20th century and over the last 100 years or so there have been dedicated efforts to rescue it from the brink and repopularise it.
What has this to do with a dance piece, you may ask. Well, Tân (Fire in English) is the latest piece from Cardiff-based Harnisch-Lacey Dance Theatre and explores the political and cultural awakening in Wales over the last century, and the Welsh Not and other activist flashpoints inform the choreography.
Three dancers robustly act out the censoring of the Welsh language in these Victorian schools, using beautifully choreographed hand-over-mouth movements to illustrate the silencing of the mother tongue; at one point a dancer pulls another back by covering his mouth, showing the repeated, physical efforts made by cultural vandals to prevent children using the language or even speaking out on the subject.
The fact there are three performers works well in the section about the incident in 1936 when three Welsh language activists set fire to the RAF bombing school in Penyberth on the Llyn Peninsula. They did it to make a political point, and gave themselves up to the police immediately, claiming the arson attack was a "cry from the Welsh heart" and could not be ignored. The arsonists/ activists became known as "the three", and the trio of performers represent them on stage in flowing, synchronised moves offset by a waft of smoke from the wings.
I can't pretend I would have picked up this theme, however strong it is, if I hadn't read the accompanying publicity, and that publicity's claim of an "impressive set" leaves a little to be desired, but what works about Tân is the power and vitality of the dance, and the impressive variety of styles on display, from traditional and contemporary, through to urban and parkour, even a spot of breakdancing, which we don't see nearly enough of in modern dance productions like this.
The three performers each have strengths which complement their partners: there is a rugged intensity and a powerful stage presence from hip hop/ bboy specialist Daniel Ovel; Tom Tindall has a more balletic presence, but again, an intense, piercing facial concentration; while Jacob Stuart is the most fluid and malleable, expressing vulnerability in his movement along with suppressed aggression.
The strength of Tân lies in the conviction of its message and the diversity of dance styles expressing a common point. Its message reminds us to never be complacent when it comes to defending and enriching our cultural heritage, whether it's in Wales or anywhere else where the culture, and the language, is under threat.
Note: An extract from Harnisch-Lacey's Edinburgh Fringe presentation from last year, Spin, preludes Tân, but as it was an extract and not the full piece, I won't review it here. But suffice to say I found it a physically impressive, diverse piece, the use of parkour-influenced moves enhanced even more. The strength these three men have in throwing first themselves and then each other up and around is awesome: the 15 minutes I saw very much made me want to see more.
The stats
Choreographers: Sandra Harnisch-Lacey, Daniel Ovel, Jacob Smart, Tom Tindall
Music: Tom Raybould
Performers: Daniel Ovel, Jacob Smart, Tom Tindall
Performed at Galeri, Caernarfon, on March 9, 2015.
Links
Tân on Harnisch-Lacey website (retrieved Mar 10 2015)
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