On thursday my wife and I saw a great dance performance at theatr Brycheniog in Brecon nearby. I have been a fan of modern dance from the moment I saw a televised performance by Merce Cunningham when I was 16.

I love the movement that dancers make, especially the way that the bodies create new and unusual forms and patterens. Desigms inspired by dance have been a theme for me throughout the last 28 years of designing.

This was a very powewerful performance. There were two dances. The first “Etude no. 1″ was a solo dance by Lucie Mongrain. Performed on and around a wooden blue rectangle that echoes the sound of the dancers steel tipped shoes. The movements were geometric and machine like. At times rythmic and undulating at other times dislocated and staccato.

Th esecond work was “Chorale”. A work for ten dancers this was very powerful. With chanting, loud vocals and extremes of voice and movement. The dancing was very sexual and sometimes suggestive of violence.

I was impresssed by the work but I must say that I would not want to watch it again.

Compagnie Marie Chouinard are from Montreal, Canada and this show was part of a short tour of Wales.

Andy Eagle from Theatr Brycheniog has brought over a Canadian dance company every year for the last 4 years and we have been to see every performance.