Mufutau Yusuf's Impasse Uses Dance to Examine the Role of Memory in the Construction of Identity

Mufutau Yusuf, Impasse, image credit Luca Truffarelli:

Mufutau Yusuf is a Nigerian-born Irish choreographer, performer, teacher, and curator, living between Brussels and Ireland. Born in Lagos, he moved to rural Country Meath, outside of Dublin, Ireland, at age nine with his father and discovered contemporary dance at sixteen through the Dublin Youth Dance Company. Raised in a culture where movement and dance are integral to its heritage, Yusuf was drawn to the opportunities in Europe, where he saw the potential to cultivate a professional career in dance.

He later trained at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance, and since graduating in 2016, has performed with leading companies such as Wim Vandekeybus/Ultima Vez in Belgium and Liz Roche Company, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Emma Martin/United Fall, and Catherine Young Dance in Ireland. Currently, he is a choreographer-in-residence with Ireland’s National Dance Company, Luail.

Yusuf’s unique voice has earned him a respected place within contemporary dance ecology. His acclaimed piece Òwe—Yoruba for “proverb”—premiered at the Irish Arts Center in 2022. Combining personal and archival materials with immersive visuals, soundscapes, and a blend of traditional and contemporary movement, it is an investigation of identity, particularly of Yusef’s Nigerian roots. 

Sound design is integral to Yusuf’s choreography. In Pigeon, a work that navigates the intersection of language and cultural fusion, he juxtaposes recordings from Nigerian markets with those from Cork’s Moore Street Market, Dublin. 

His recent piece, Impasse, commissioned by Arts Council Ireland, features a soundscape by composer Mick Donohoe, layering abstract sounds, tearing noises, and Bach-inspired compositions. Motivated by Yusuf’s interest in racial and political identity—particularly as it relates to the Black body in contemporary Western contexts—Impasse is a compelling exploration of ethnicity, identity and the experience of the Black diaspora. Delving into questions of representation, misrepresentation, and invisibility Yusef uses the piece to; “further understand my relationship with my Black body and its experiences within a contemporary Western society. This raised questions on the notion of representation, misrepresentation, and lack thereof.”

Mufutau Yusuf, Impasse, image credit Patricio Cassinoni

Performed as a duet with the Congolese dancer, Lukah Katangila, Yusef delves into the role of memory in the construction of identity. Drawing on both his own experiences and those of his collaborator as migrants, he examines themes of assimilation, diversity, and representation, using dance as a medium to explore the complexities of belonging and selfhood. In a 2022 interview with The New York Times he explained “As migrants, you always improvise, attuning yourself to your surroundings, and that comes across in my work.”

Originally premiered at the Dublin Dance Festival 2024, Impasse has since toured across the UK, including a standout appearance at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe, where it earned a five-star review from The Guardian as "a piece of magical stagecraft" marking Yusef as "a choreographer to watch." Before its London premiere at Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Studio on Thursday the 14th and Friday the 15th of November, Yusuf will present Impasse at the Festival Afropolis, QDance Centre in Lagos. 

Mufutau Yusuf, Impasse, image credit Patricio Cassinoni

About Impasse

Creative Team:
Mufutau Yusuf (Junior) – Choreographer / Performer / Set Designer
Lukah Katangila – Performer
Tom Lane – Sound Design & Composer
Mick Donohoe – Composer
Matt Burke – Light Designer
Alison Brown – Costume Design

Maryam Yussuf – Prop Design
Ikenna Anyabuike – Text / Spoken Word
Rima Baransi - Rehearsal Assistant
Lisa Mahony – Production Manager
Lisa Krugel – Stage Manager / Set Assistant 

Mufutau Yusuf, Impasse, image credit Luca Truffarelli:

Wayne McGregor Employs AI In One Choreographic Work & Addresses The Climate Crisis In Another This Week @ Sadler's Wells In London

text by Lara Monro

This week, the multi-award-winning choreographer and director Wayne McGregor CBE will present Autobiography (v95 and v96) and UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey at Sadlers Wells, London. 

For over twenty five years, McGregor’s multi-dimensional choreographic work has radically redefined dance in the modern era, securing his position at the cutting edge of contemporary arts. Take, for example, his appointment as the first choreographer from a contemporary dance background to be Resident Choreographer at The Royal Ballet in 2006, where he has created over twenty productions that daringly reconfigure classical language. 

Alongside his multiple cross-sector collaborations and role at The Royal Ballet, Studio Wayne McGregor is the creative engine of his life-long enquiry into thinking through and with the body. The 30+ works created since being established in 1992 (as Random Dance) showcase the evolution of his distinctive visual style and reveal the movement possibilities of the body in ever more precise degrees of articulation. 

McGregor’s Autobiography (v95 and v96) is the latest iteration of Autobiography (1.0), a series of unique dance portraits inspired and determined by the sequencing of his own genetic code. The work upends the traditional nature of dance-making by using the new AI tool AISOMA to hijack his DNA data through its specially created algorithm, which overwrites the configurations of 100 hours+ of his choreographic learning to present fresh movement options to the performers. The meshing of artificial intelligence and instinct converge to create a totally unique dance sequence that complements the medium’s ephemeral quality. 

While v95 and v96 shines a light on the cutting edge innovation capabilities of dance and future facing technology, UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey is a moving meditation on the climate crisis. Inspired by the Jim Henson cult classic, The Dark Crystal, it depicts an Earth driven by extremes and urgently in need of healing; a modern eco-myth that asks how we can come together to be whole again. The combination of cutting-edge costumes paired with the digital landscapes creates a stunning blend of fantasy and documentary. 

Autobiography (v95 and v96) will be showcased this Tuesday and Wednesday (March 12th & 13th), while UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey will be showcased this Friday and Saturday (March 15 & 16th) at Sadlers Wells, London. 

scene from Autobiography (v95 and v96)

scene from UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey

Sharon Eyal's Rambert2 Slays The Stage With Killer Pig @ Sadlers Wells In London

Rambert2 Dancers in Sharon Eyal's Killer Pig © Deborah Jaffe

text by Lara Monro
photographs by Deborah Jaffe

In February 2020, 650 early career dancers auditioned to join Rambert2: a new and exciting programme founded to develop the artistic practices of a diverse cast of daring performers. Eleven practitioners were selected for their unique talent. Starting in May this year, the ensemble toured the UK to perform Sharon Eyal’s Killer Pig. Designed to extend the Rambert company’s traditional reach, the Rambert2 collective takes distinctive, world-class dance to more people in more places.

Born in Jerusalem, Eyal established the contemporary dance company L-E-V (meaning heart) with her long-standing collaborator Gai Behar in 2013. Prior to this, Eyal danced with the Batsheva Dance Company from 1990 - 2008. From 2009, she began to form her own choreographies including Killer Pig (2009) and Corps de Walk (2011). Since 2013, L-E-V has had more than 200 performances in some of the most exclusive venues and festivals around the world: The Joyce Theatre – NYC; Jacob's Pillow – Berkshires; The Montpellier Danse Festival – France; Julidans – Amsterdam.

Last weekend, Sadlers Wells welcomed Rambert2 to its stage. Eight of the eleven performers executed Killer Pig with unwavering raw passion. The minimalist expression, intense honesty, and uncompromising physicality of the piece is provocative, carnal, and adrenaline-inducing. L-E-V uniquely combines ballet with hip hop: a head-bop seamlessly morphs into a pirouette. At forty minutes in length, the performance is the epitome of artistic endurance. The audience witnesses fearless determination and dedication as the performers bodies are pushed to extremes. The dance explores a spectrum of emotion: dark, obsessive, and beautiful. 

Instantly submerged within what feels like a club room dedicated to pounding industrial techno, the bodies move mainly in unison — part of a whole organism that ebbs and flows across the stage — until one, or a few break off and offer up an independent performance before dissolving back into the collective. It's tribal, at times trance-like, with a sassy aggression. 

Tight, beige leotards leave little to the imagination, allowing every part of the anatomy to be celebrated for its athletic achievement: muscles bursting, ribs protruding. The harsh, white lights designed by Kevin A. Jones draw attention to their facial expressions: passioned, pained, sometimes crazed. 

Home was also performed by Rambert2: a new commission created by the American choreographer Micaela Taylor. The first dance of the evening is recognized for its numerous influences that encompass classical ballet, hip hop and Gaga. 

Long-term L-E-V collaborator, Ori Lichtik, is the genius behind the multifaceted industrial soundscape, which arguably seals the deal for making the performance an all-around superlative piece of contemporary dance. The standing ovation, and emotional reaction this provoked in the audience, was a poignant nod to the long-overdue return of live performance post COVID.