Sarah Golding – MAP Dance Company - State  

Written by Hannah Mulligan 

‘State’ is a lively and exciting piece choreographed by Sarah Golding for the 21/22 MAP dance cohort and is largely choreographed in relationship to the music. The piece is danced in the count of 7 as opposed to your typical 8 and the dancers perfectly embody the ambience of the music and movement. This aided by the lighting design, by Mike Bignell, which creates a warm and captivating landscape, with warm toned lights and well-placed spotlights and shadows. This is also reflected in the costuming as the dancers wear an autumnal and bright colour palette, making us as an audience feel invited and at comfort. The piece also explores the idea of who we are when we are alone verses who we are when we present to the outside world, exquisitely performed by the dancers who flash the audience with series’ of theatrical faces before dropping the façade and walking away. We then get taken into a new dimension of the work, with red and low lighting, where the dancers move seductively with the music and embrace the fluidity and sensuality of the movement, creating an irresistible performance that’s almost impossible to take your eyes off. Sarah Goldings ‘State’ is undeniably stunning, and the dancers wholly embody the spirit of the dance.