What does it take to get you up on your feet and into the groove? Whatever your disposition, Little Bulb’s Listen Dance delivers a “raucous evening of social dance and live music” with absolutely no pressure except a request for mutual care, to deliver bouts of genuinely infectious enthusiasm.
The concept is deceptively simple: each band member teaches the audience a dance holding personal significance, from Clare’s dad ‘John Beresford’s disco moves’ to Eugenie’s mum’s fondness for rocking around the clock, Miriam’s bat mitzvah hora dancing, to Isabel’s Candy Dance, and Shamira’s freestyle. Under Dom Conway’s direction, the nine-strong ensemble creates space where technical failure becomes celebratory triumph — and where “going wrong in so many ways I’ve never seen before!” earns cheers of approval.
This kind of democratizing impulse feels genuinely radical in theatrical contexts typically obsessed with professional polish, but Little Bulb adds heaps of irreverent fun to the equation too. Here, the permission to fail coupled with caring conviviality quickly results in an authentically diverse community. “The ceilidh never goes right in You-Tube wedding videos,” Alex tells us as he teaches us the Scottish dance moves, “but loud whooping covers up any technical mistakes.”
Most remarkably, non-participation remains unbegrudgingly acceptable in Listen Dance — allowing even wallflowers to contribute through palpably increasing amusement rather than feeling any shame or coercion. Little Bulb are no strangers to a DIY ethos and have pushed the boundaries of form in many wonderful ways before. In this case they succeed in expanding the dance workshop format into something resembling a social experiment.
Their expanded lineup too (including Conrad Murray of the Beatbox Academy, Deepraj Singh, and Isabel Adomakoh Young) brings renewed energy to familiar territory, proving that the most sophisticated theatrical experiences sometimes emerge from the simplest human impulses: moving together, moshing together, falling and rising together. Raucous indeed, but purposefully so.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Duška Radosavljević.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
