A Review of Virago

 Feb 5 2018, 02:26 PM Dance, Performances, Reviews, Sonia Sabri, Sonia Sabri Company, Virago





A Review of Virago 


I was interested to learn that Virago had been the result of some extensive research. As a woman, I was grateful to hear this. I've always been interested in listening to other women's stories and the fact that SSCo had clearly listened to other women and had attempted to understand them, made the performance more real for me. I was informed that Virago was not an attempt to victimise women but instead to explore the various elements of a female and indeed, an individual. Some of these themes and elements include the repression and entrapment of women, mental health issues including eating disorders and anxiety.








Sonia's dance art, Kathak was fast paced, energetic and had moments of real pain and power. I was transfixed by the haunting music from the company's musical director, Sarvar Sabri. There is some dialogue scattered throughout which serves to move the story on and add a bit of pathos to the narrative. The majority of the music playing had me feeling as if I had just wandered into a dream, which not only made the performance more exciting but also left me thinking about it long after it had finished.




The dancing itself also had elements of ballet and this translated into the clear ups and downs of life. The best thing about this is that you can tell that it is Sonia's personal style and that it reflects modern society and the experiences she has gone through both as a dancer and as a woman. Personally, I took the fast paced nature of Virago to reflect the frenetic energy of modern life and how hard it is to gain perspective as a person and how hard it is to gain a sense of freedom and voice as a woman.


By far my favourite part of the performance was the imagery that it conjured up. The build up of the broken female, her attempt to overcome the tragedies enforced on her and how these two things correlate in the world of reality and the world of psychedelic fantasy. Sonia's attempt to explore the minds and experiences of women everywhere more than pays off and the dedication and energy shown should be replicated in every other dance show out there.

Virago dates:

 The Old Rep Theatre, Birmingham, 15th February, 7.30pm;
Swindon Dance, Swindon, 23rd March, 7.30pm.

Photographs by Simon Richardson

 Writer and Reviewer: Abigail Remmer




 Lisa Godsal
 Comments

 Apr 5 2017, 12:55 PM Sonia Sabri, Sonia Sabri Company, Virago

A stunning solo

Those who ventured into VIRAGO saw some serious girl power!

Once again Sonia has mesmerised audiences, this time with her new innovative dance solo. VIRAGO exploded into theatres at it's preview performances at Mac Birmingham and The Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton. Did somebody say standing ovation?

'Mind blowing and liberating', are just some of the words that have been used to describe the show.

VIRAGO showed beauty and fragility. It illuminates elements of what the media perceives as 'the woman' and the pressure that creates, yet still presenting empowerment and hope.  

Audience members felt a deep connection to the piece, one woman describing it as  'Deep - it reminded me of something personal in my past. It was like she knew my story.'

It’s safe to say that that VIRAGO was a huge success! A massive thank you to all those involved and our wonderful audiences! 


Keep your eyes peeled for further performances from the company!


 Lisa Godsal
 Comments

 Mar 8 2017, 01:22 PM Performances, Sonia Sabri, Sonia Sabri Company, Virago
VIRAGO IS NEAR

With just one week to go until Virago hits the stage at mac birmingham, we are completely run off our feet! Blood, sweat and tears have gone into making this tremendous performance and watching it all come together this Saturday will be the icing on the cake for all of us.

Stepping into the theatre today I was unaware of just what the day would entail, lights, projections, smoke… giant 60ft images of pixelated dancers? It’s all a bit of a mystery to me, but wow it sure is impressive. Mixing digital elements with dance is a rarity and from what I have seen so far there will not be another performance like ‘Virago’.

Women from all over Birmingham have helped us to make this performance as real and heart wrenching as possible and we can’t thank them enough for bravely sharing their experiences and views on womanhood.

Working on this performance has been a dream come true, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s hard work pull together.

I’m a part of this revolution, are you?















VIRAGO
Saturday 11th March @ 8pm
mac birmingham

Watch our ‘making of Virago’ film here:  http://bit.ly/2lg1Ifh

Book your tickets here: http://bit.ly/2mvnVrx


 Lisa Godsal
 Comments

 Feb 27 2017, 12:10 PM Dance, Performances, Sonia Sabri Company, Virago
VIRAGO - DEBUT PERFORMANCE


It’s getting close to the debut date of our brand new performance piece ‘Virago’ and we can’t wait to see you there!

I’ve had the privilege of watching this inspirational piece go from a simple idea to an astounding masterpiece of dance and sound, and wow it has been a journey.

We have used the thoughts and experiences of real women to inspire this piece and to ensure a relatable connection with its audience. Combined with the efforts of Ludic Rooms and Sonia Sabri’s artistic visionary and talents, this show is set to be like no other.

‘Virago’ means ‘female warrior’ in Latin and Vira is ‘the brave one’ in Hindi. This new performance explores the light vs. dark and the real vs. fairy-tale versions of female existence, while discussing the choices and decisions we must make as we go through life regardless of gender: there is no clear path to do the right thing, only options, and not all of them are easy.

Sonia’s signature ‘Urban Kathak’ language merges on stage with digital artistry, alongside a sound-score combining spoken word and music, with rich and diverse influences: a cacophony of voices from Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, representing and speaking to women worldwide, but appealing to all of our humanity, regardless of gender and culture.

Prepare yourself for an evening of first class entertainment that will touch your heart and leave you feeling moved.

Come and be part of the revolution.

VIRAGO
mac birmingham
11th March @ 8pm

To Book: https://macbirmingham.co.uk/event/virago

 Lisa Godsal
 Comments
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