Dance Onstage: a virtual programme

Covid restrictions have been hard on everyone, but perhaps hardest on freelance artists, with the closure of all theatres and live productions leaving them suddenly deprived of their livelihoods for a long time, with just the dimmest of lights flickering at the end of the tunnel.

Enter Bravo Productions. Set up a year ago by two young theatre professionals, it aims to do its bit to keep the performing arts alive by offering a platform to some of those who've been affect by the impact of the pandemic on this vital industry.

As part of a series of streams that started in August, Bravo Productions is now staging two new virtual shows: one for singers, Sing Onstage on Sunday 29 November, and Dance Onstage for dancers on Monday 30 November.

Dance Onstage will be a mixed affair, bringing together the talents of dancers that specialise in a variety of genres, from contemporary to commercial and classical.

The bill is made up of 10 numbers, kicking off with Hannah Rotchell, herself one of the founders of Bravo Productions, dancing a contemporary piece, What Is It To Dance?, set to Coldplay's A Skyful of Stars.

It'll end with a neoclassical piece to be performed by Sophie Mergaliyev, a mesmerising ballet dancer, with long limbs, an iron-strong technique and the delicacy of a gazelle. Her number is called November.

In between there will be street dance (All At Once by Adam Patient), commercial (Crush by Josie Scammell), a piece inspired by musical theatre and danced to a Britney Spears medley by Jody Zimmerman, and a few other takes on contemporary dance.

All in all, Dance Onstage is a worthwhile initiative in support of those artists who, in normal times, brighten up our lives. It promises a unique programme well suited to a Sunday night in lockdown, and we're more than happy to recommend it.