Abby Z and the New Utility- Radioactive Practice review – a triumph of Olympian physicality

Sadler’s Wells, LondonAbby Zbikowski’s choreography resembles the most gruelling and exacting CrossFit ever – with superhero dancers displaying mind-boggling virtuosity
Lyndsey WinshipSun 20 Oct 2024 15.00 EDTLast modified on Sun 20 Oct 2024 15.27 EDTShareI’ve never seen anything quite like this before. It’s like the most gruelling CrossFit session ever, these bodies, hurling out their energy in punchy lunges, jumps and kicks. I’ve also never heard anything like it. There’s no music. The soundtrack is harsh exhalations of breath, and voices shouted from the sidelines: “You got this!” “I see you!” “Uh-huh!”
This is what’s new from New York. Choreographer Abby Zbikowski, bringing together a riotous assemblage of movement influences, the messiness of 21st-century living and some extreme precision in a sure highlight of this year’s Dance Umbrella festival. It’s an exhilarating hour in the presence of six superhero dancers who couldn’t be more utterly human, made of flesh, sweat, muscle and endless striving.
The moves come from sports, street dance, club dance and more. There’s flinging and falling (they really need those kneepads) and the heavy stamp of trainers on the floor. At one point three of them dance a fast sequence of Keith Haring-like poses, switching between bold shapes at flick book pace. You boggle at the virtuosity when dancer Mya McClellan hops repeatedly from one foot to the other, opposite leg high in the air. It’s the opposite of the ballet dancer, subsuming all effort beneath a perfect exterior. This is hard work, proper physical labour, pushing towards some invisible goal. So much effort, and for what, we don’t know. That’s life all over.
View image in fullscreenDanger and safety in one … Abby Z and the New Utility: Radioactive Practice. Photograph: Maria BaranovaThey shout their support for each other, rousing and rallying. It makes immediate bonds of community between the dancers, but also the audience, pulling us into their sweaty embrace. We’re mostly too English to join in with the vocalising (although the programme explicitly states that you can). But I can’t be the only one to feel a swell of emotion, a visceral reaction in recognising the Olympian effort – like watching Alex Yee power to a triathlon gold. It’s the very basic triumph of human will and physical persistence. They look as if they’re fighting or taming a wild beast, but with rigorously ordered and exact choreography. It’s danger and safety in one; risk and reassurance. “We got you,” a voice shouts from across the stage. And isn’t that all anyone wants to hear?
Dance Umbrella festival is at various venues across London, until 31 October