Dance
Born to Manifest
Tramway, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
four stars
At first, the lone figure standing upstage is shrouded in darkness. The gradual light reveals a man with his back to us - and though we can now discern his powerful build, he is anonymous, faceless to us. His body, however, is talking rapidly and vividly through movement. His arms and hands are constantly on the defensive, warding off unseen threats and blows - the voices barking out “hands up” on Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante’s turbulent soundscore suggest police involvement, but the hostility could come from other fists, or even guns. Gangs? Vigilantes? Racists? The shadows seem full of menace...
For choreographer/dancer Joseph Toonga this visceral opening solo embodies the everyday experiences of young black British men he spoke to when researching Born to Manifest for his company, Just Us Dance Theatre . When he turns towards us, as if to fight back, he is still constantly floored by stresses that undermine his attempts to stand tall. A second dancer, Dani Harris Walters, enters and - although Toonga seems to reject all offers of assistance - there is a coming together of both men in a duet where Walters’ supportive actions allow Toonga to walk away, with dignity. And then, as it were, history repeats itself. Walters is soon flinching and beleaguered, trying to walk along a narrow beam of light as if it were a tightrope to mental and physical safety. These are harsh images, and the fierce physicality of Toonga’s mix of movement styles - martial arts, hip=hop, contemporary - judder with brutality. But there’s a striking, defiant provocation when both men mimic the gestures and vocalisings of apes - confronting racist stereotypes by connecting with emblematic African roots. If pride in culture and identity is explored by Toonga and Walters in Born to Manifest, those themes are also to the fore in the short, sharp curtain-raiser performed by local young people who brought their own experiences of exclusion, aggro and vulnerability to Toonga’s workshops. A manifestly rewarding performance all round.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here