Dance Works

Exhilarating and celebratory, the rhythmic demands and physicality of Dance Works share roots with rock, jazz, and even the dynamic syncopations of medieval dance music. Steve Martland collaborated with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre and Aletta Collins’ original choreography centred around a single dancer’s vain attempts to join a larger group. While the music deliberately avoids any narrative elements, dramatic tension is created through simultaneous dissonant and consonant harmony. Originally scored for the Steve Martland Band, Martland later made an arrangement of Dance Works for two pianos. This smaller version retains all the rhythmic power of the original but opens up new possibilities for small-scale or touring dance companies.