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An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Sarah Frater's rating
Reader rating
Description: A combination of movement and visual art, with the dancers in black performing against a white background. Choreographed by Lin Hwai-Min, with visual artist Cai Guo-Qiang.
Trains: Tube: Barbican/Moorgate 
, Tube / Bus: 8, 11, 23, 26, 35, 42, 43, 47, 48, 55, 56, 76,78, 100 
Phone: 0845120 7500
Website: www.barbican.org.uk
Email: info@barbican.org.uk
Extra info: Telephones, Party Hire, Parking, Air Conditioning, Food, Pub
Kiddie-friendly: dancers in black imitate shadows, a trick that has been popular in various Peter Pan ballets
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan is a strange opener to Dance Umbrella. The international festival of new dance usually programmes the indie and the unexpected, plus a few big names it's championed since they were small.
Wind Shadow is none of these but a dance-lite piece co-created by the troupe's director Lin Hwai-Min and the pageant meister Cai Guo-Qiang.
He devised the visual and special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics so you won't be surprised that the result is a visually impressive but artistically slight show that evokes, well, wind and shadows.
The shadows are created by half the dancers wearing black unitards with integral gloves, socks, and full-faced balaclavas. They lie on the floor and mimic the movements of the upright half of the troupe. This pairing and costuming has been a kiddie-friendly wheeze in various Peter Pan ballets over the years, and Wind Shadow adds little, apart from some precision moves and moody expressions.
Indeed, there were several sequences when the audience tittered, such as when the shadow dancers lie on the floor and hoik their feet around the ankles of the standing dancers, who then drag them slo-mo across the stage.
Wind-wise, there are kites, plumed costumes, and vast billowing flags with multiple off-stage fans keeping them afloat while the dancers rush around to catch the gusts. The flags occasionally hint at clouds, or waves, or souls in flight but most of the time they are just flags. The exception is the sequence toward the end when the dancers point mini projectors at the flags, which pick up images suggesting protest and rebellion.
Next comes a film of a so-called ink painting to the sound of gunshot and then the black-clad dancers roll across the stage as if both bullets and cannon-fodder.
This one scene has a potency lacking from the rest of the show, which despite valiant efforts by the dancers, lacks depth. The digital hum soundscape, interspersed with baby wails and doors slamming, soon gets on your nerves.
Until Saturday (0845 120 7553, www.danceumbrella.co.uk).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
