Red Bus Londinium Life

How to Be a Dancer in 72,000 Easy Lessons, currently playing at Sadler’s Wells East is a semi-autobiographical piece examining choreographer Michael Keegan-Dolan‘s life and career through a series of memories and vignettes.

Each element in this carefully chosen collection of life and career milestones stacks up like pages in a well-worn book or brushstrokes on a canvas. Audiences are lead to evaluate which of these turning points have defined who Keegan-Dolan became. Does a single scene explain his rise more than the others or is it the accumulation, the tension between tradition and defiance, that tells the real story?

The production opens in an unconventional manner: the stage is dominated by a large crate, atop which long-time collaborator Rachel Poirier welds and smokes with a focused intensity. Gradually, the crate is unpacked, revealing a curious mix of everyday items and increasingly eccentric objects – the detritus of a life lived, and, as we come to discover, relics from past performances and personal experiences.

The show touches on Keegan-Dolan’s early life, a traditional Irish upbringing: uncomprehending priests, unfulfilled dreams of becoming a footballer and a father who might have driven him to the airport for his journey to London to pursue dance but clearly remains disapproving. We also hear about the backdrop of IRA violence that set him apart in London, as well as the generational trauma of famine that later shapes his worldview. These threads of personal history weave through the performance. Drawing on the rich Irish storytelling tradition, Keegan-Dolan and Poirier strike a delicate balance between narrative and movement, with dance and props illuminating the words and bringing both emotion and humour. Lighting by Adam Silverman is skilfully used to bring focus, impact and surprise.

In one of the show’s most striking moments, Poirier performs to the entirety of Ravel’s Boléro. At first, her movements appear wild and energetic – playful and humorous even – but as the piece unfolds, it becomes clear that this controlled chaos is underpinned by a remarkable level of technique. Poirier is unafraid of silence and stillness, taking deliberate pauses that add weight and tension. What initially seems like it will be a brief excerpt (as other elements of the show have been) gradually reveals itself to be an exploration of the full piece. Poirier commands the stage, owning every inch of it, while Keegan-Dolan, the choreographer, watches on, a quiet observer to her mastery.

How to Be a Dancer in 72,000 Easy Lessons is a remarkable testament to both a career and a partnership. It may not actually give us 72,000 lessons nor turn us into dancers, but it is incredibly exhilarating to watch, leaving the audience to reflect on the turning points and vignettes that have shaped who they are and who they have yet to become.

[Thank you to Sadler’s Wells East who provided a gifted ticket in exchange for an honest review.]