Still Rising - Phoenix 35 Years On

I was a child out of my time, steeped in Errol Flynn, Jimmy Cagney, Bogart and Gable, all of them before my humble beginnings in 1961!

But it was the Hollywood Golden Era, bequeathed to me by my parents, that gave me an appreciation of the spectacular, the glitzy, glamorous and all things obvious; no thought, just sit back and enjoy the escapism.

Contemporary dance is much less of the above, more a tangled web of angular movement, brutality, power, aggression, athleticism, style and wit, wrapped up in a tightly bound package, delivered as an enigma.

At least that is how the Phoenix dance company has spoken to me over the years in all its many guises, and tonight and tomorrow there are two more chances to see their mixed programme at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, including Edward Lynch's wonderful Nightlife at the Flamingo.

It is one of the few concessions, nay tributes, to that era mentioned above, a wonderfully entertaining piece and, like its Hollywood predecessors, obvious; just sit back and enjoy this foot-tapping spectacle that had the audience on its feet.

But Phoenix is not a company to let you enjoy the 'obvious' without first making you work for your supper, continually breaking new ground, always challenging, always demanding that you leave your comfort zone.

I hate those artistic pseuds who claim to have universal understanding of everything they see. I do not, but I know that something is profound when it speaks to my emotions. I sometimes leave the programme notes or post show talks to guide me through the jungle of understanding.

Douglas Thorpe's 'Beast' has been restaged for 2017 in all its raw, threatening brutality, whilst Sandrine Monin has been allowed to blossom with her work, Calyx in which she takes inspiration from Charles Baudelaire's book of poems, The Flowers of Evil, to explore the themes of beauty, desire and decadence.

I watch, I listen and, over the evening, around me I hear the words 'haunting' and 'disturbing to watch', their words not mine.

So, it is fair to say that this mixed programme is indeed a mixed bag of challenging and obvious. There are two 20 minute intervals, probably to give the dancers a well-earned rest, however, it is also a time for momentary reflection for the audience.

The front end of the evening will leave you with an air of darkness within, or perhaps a sense of strange foreboding but, like the dentist who gives out sweets after the treatment's finished, you can be sure to go home with a spring in your step having enjoyed the finale, but with the spirit of contemplation and wondering in your heart, prompted by the offering from the earlier part of the evening.

At West Yorkshire Playhouse until Saturday