7–75, The Place, review: Too much skipping, not enough dancing

There are some nice elements, but Amy Hodge's piece feels unfinished

Amy Hodge's 7-75 (Robert Day)

7–75, the first dance work by theatre director Amy Hodge, starts with a very cheery image. Her cast of five female performers, aged from seven to 75, hula-hoop joyfully to Chuck Berry. Hoops still spinning, they run, dip to the floor or zig zag around each other. It’s a picture of community, a bright opening for a show that still feels like a work in progress.

Hodge’s engaging cast dance, compare bodies and tell stories – though not necessarily their own. The teenaged Jessie Scarlett Richardson describes going through the menopause. Stories of parties or the fear of dying slip up and down the generations, experience shared or slippery.

7–75 is weaker as a dance work. Hodge has a pop score, from Berry to Katy Perry, but she tends to use whole songs, whether or not there’s enough movement to fill them. It leads to too much empowered skipping about.

The physical theatre elements are stronger and often darker. Mature performer Betsy Field retreats to a chair after describing a fear of nursing homes. Two other women start to dress her, wrestling a pair of tights onto her passive body – no longer sharing space, but invading it.