Press
[Please note: the emphases in the quoted texts are mine, not the authors']
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About Avid for Ovid works [2013 - 2016] (see here for more about the Avid for Ovid project):
Review by Maggie Watson after the Avid for Ovid performances as part of DEADfriday at the Ashmolean Museum on 30th October 2015 (included Ségolène Tarte's Lycaon and Circe):"Artistic, scholarly, and professional
(...)
we saw expressions of human and beyond-human emotions
(...)
Avid for Ovid evoked both pity and terror in its audience: the ultimate Halloween experience"
(view full review here: https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/avid4ovid-deadfriday-ashmolean-30-oct-maggie-watson-reviews/ )
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Review by Barbara Berrington on Ségolène Tarte's Lycaon, performed on 17th July 2015 as part of GOlive Oxford, at the Burton Taylor studio, Oxford - curated by Donald Hutera):"In its clarity, Segolene Tarte’s Lycaon was unquestionably the most compelling performance of the evening. So terrifying was its narrative and visual power that a child of about eight or nine sought refuge from the auditorium.(...)"
(view full review here: https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/dance-traditions-mythical-bite-golive-2015-burton-taylor-17th-july-barbara-berrington-reflects/)
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Audience feedback, including mention of Ségolène Tarte's Daedalus & Icarus after the 28th August 2014 showing at the Al-Jaber Auditorium, Corpus Christi College, Oxford - selected from feedback sheets collected on the day for the joint research with ADMD:
"Thank you for an astounding evening. I enjoyed the academic side but above all the intense emotional conviction of the last two pieces all conveyed with the utmost simplicity of means - the music, a single dancer representing the various roles in Daedalus/Icarus and Aurora/Memnon - no lighting tricks - just brilliant dancing and music. A marvellously innovative Ovid experience!"
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About Presence [2013] (a Ballet-Kathak duet with Anuradha Chaturvedi ):
{related posts}
Review by Marcella Vigneri on Oxford Dance Writers (work in progress - performed as part of Aangika at the Old Fire Station, 30th November 2013 ):
"Presence is a short piece, and what struck me most favorably about it was the attempt not to blend two classical dance styles but to put on stage a dance encounter, to make these two styles ‘talk’ to each other, [...]compare body lines, arm movements, leg extensions and bends in the gentle turning of the ballet dancer into and around the quick, precise but nonetheless gracefully attentive turns of the Kathak dancer.I think the choreographic experiment paid off[...]. In the end I was left with a pleasant feeling about this piece, though somehow a feeling of unfinished work… of a story not fully told."
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About Mnemosyne's Triple-Entendre [2013] (piece commissioned by the Oxford Dance Forum and the Pegasus Theatre, part of the Dancin'Oxford festival 2013):
Review by Thomas Stell on Oxford Dance Writers (Pegasus Theatre, part of "Moving with the Times", Fri 1st March 2013 performance):
"[...] The most successful was Triple-Entendre, danced by Ségolène Tarte and Laura Addison. Both are very technically accomplished, particularly evident in the first, balletic part. Their movements follow jagged lines, mimicked by crosses in strips of light on the floor, and bands of light projected onto the back wall. The whole design is elegant and minimalist.[...]"
(view full review of the event here: http://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/decreasing-infinity-moving-with-the-times-freedom-thomas-steel-reviews-dancin-oxford-2013-events/ --
And for a thorough and insightful review of Malcolm Atkins's "Moving with the Times" CD, which includes the amazing music he composed as part of Mnemosyne for Triple-Entendre, as well as other pieces composed for Ana Barbour and Anuradha Chaturvedi, check Bruno Guastalla's write-up on Oxford Dance Writers here: http://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/moving-with-the-times-cd-of-music-for-dance-by-malcolm-atkins-bruno-guastalla-reviews/ )
And for a thorough and insightful review of Malcolm Atkins's "Moving with the Times" CD, which includes the amazing music he composed as part of Mnemosyne for Triple-Entendre, as well as other pieces composed for Ana Barbour and Anuradha Chaturvedi, check Bruno Guastalla's write-up on Oxford Dance Writers here: http://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/moving-with-the-times-cd-of-music-for-dance-by-malcolm-atkins-bruno-guastalla-reviews/ )
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Review by Lizzy Spight on Oxford Dance Writers (Pegasus Theatre, part of "Moving with the Times", Fri 1st March 2013 performance):
"[...]This piece is fascinating on more than one level. With the depth of a philosophical/mythological approach to memory, and the rich image of Ségolène’s poem [...] [l]anguage seems to be in the centre of this piece, expressed through the dance [...] a pleasure to watch.[...] In the first half it is a ballet/contemporary performance, following clear lines, exploring space, directions and dynamics. In the second half there is a change of costumes and dance style, it evokes for me an association of folk dance (Greek?) and foreign languages. At this point Malcolm joins them on stage, playing the violin. It enhances the image of beauty and harmony that is presented.
Looking at the poem and the dance at the same time makes you think of even more associations and meanings. Language on many levels…[...]"
(view full review of the event here: http://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/moving-with-the-times-pegasus-theatre-friday-1st-march-2013-lizzy-spight-reviews; the poem Lizzy talks about is visible here)
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Review by David Bellan in the Oxford Times (Pegasus Theatre, part of "Moving with the Times", Fri 1st March 2013 performance):"[...]In Triple-Entendre two classical dancers explore the ways in which memory affects our actions.[...]this was [a] fine semi-abstract piece, with Segolene Tarte and Laura Addison offering the most professional and accomplished work of the evening.[...]"
(view full review of the event here: http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/theatre/dance/reviews/10270502.Dancin__Oxford__Pegasus_Theatre/)
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Review by Lizzy Spight on Oxford Dance Writers (Pegasus Scratch Night [work-in-progress] 25th Jan 2013 performance):"[...]Two very skilled dancers, Ségolène Tarte and Laura Addison, showed a contemporary dance piece [...] with plenty of interesting creative movement and unexpected angles of development. The music composed by Malcolm Atkins was a perfect accompaniment, varied, multi-levelled and expressive, portraying different moods. [...]"
(view full review of the event here: http://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/dance-scratch-night-at-pegasus-theatre-25th-january-2013-lizzy-spight-views-works-in-progress/)
In the leading up to Mnemosyne's Triple-Entendre (piece commissioned by the Oxford Dance Forum and the Pegasus Theatre, part of the Dancin'Oxford festival 2013):
The Oxford Mail and the Oxford Times published a rehearsal picture with a (much decontextualised and somewhat meaningless) sentence picked from an interview. It makes me say "The dance was difficult to achieve but I think we’ve conveyed it. We’ve had lots of fun trying." If I might shed some light on this, what was "difficult to achieve" was the floor patterns and trajectories of the first tableau (see this post), what "I think we've conveyed" is a feeling of being constrained in that first tableau... and yes indeed we did have fun creating the piece!
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| Source: http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/10187313.Preparing_for_this_year_s_Dancin__Oxford/ |
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About Splice [2012]:
Review by Susie Crow on Oxford Dance Writers (Diamond Night 28th Jan 2012 performance):
"[...]A powerful opening to Ségolène Tarte’s Splice as her shadowy figure found its agitated way to a central hanging rope and pool of light. This work in progress has expanded since previous performances, building its emotional resonance as Ségolène has developed a vulnerable and shifting relationship with the rope, almost lending it life and a character of its own. She is finding a personal dance language which integrates her balletic grace and vocabulary with strongly defined expressive movement.[...]"
(view full review of the event here: http://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/diamond-nights-28th-january-2012/)
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Review by Ana Barbour on Oxford Dance Writers (Pegasus Scratch Night 13th Jan 2012 performance):
"[...]Segolene Tarte in ‘Splice’ presented a very different use of the rope –as a prop and dance partner. (how amazing to have 2 rope pieces in one evening!). She brought a light, playful touch which was also at times mysterious and full of emotional resonance. Making good use of space and clear form she also took on a variety of body qualities which showed an ability to extend well beyond ballet technique.[...]"