Blood Sweat and Tears by Liv Lorent: Review

Liv Lorent has created a 30 minute duet based on the struggles she experienced after having her first baby. The strength and beautiful execution of line from dancer Phillipa White and the genuine connection between her and Gavin Coward is lovely to watch.The emotive atmosphere and the dark, difficult path of new parents is well realised and felt.

Choreographically, the crafting of movement to portray the obsessive love for their new baby lets down this relationship. The parental bed and the baby’s crib sculpt much of the space, and the use of these comes across as how many tricks the choreographer can use them for. Backward rolls over the bed, balancing and rocking the crib, something else please? Once the dancers made it off these props, the movement vocabulary consisted seemingly only of forced arch after forced arch (displaying the lovely feet of White) and smothering hugs of the baby as it is exchanged between the two.

The music dictates the shifts in emotion from love and wonder, to jealousy and concern; the choreographic style and mood show little variation.

The piece resolves with White extracting a complicated robe as Coward consoles the baby, but this robe is removed forthwith; what is the point of this other than to bring a brief attempt at seduction to her partner?