Our Time is Now - Bridport Youth Dance

By Andrew Dickson

With an incredible storyline covering the whole history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present day, Nikki Northover's Bridport Youth Dance Company achieved a major triumph with 'Our Time is Now' at the Electric Palace this year.

More than 90 dancers filled the beautifully-lit Palace stage for a three-hour delight with more than 40 expertly-crafted dance pieces. The show - skilfully woven together through narrative and dance by choreographers Nikki and Aimee Symes - backed up by the cream of lucky old Bridport's musicians, composers, designers, sparks, theatre technicians, costume designers and makers and yet more choreographers - was a truly magnificent joint effort of community creativity.

The dances evoked a multitude of themes starting from the Creation, through war and peace, light and dark, love, hate, pollution, recycling, parental love and despair and hope all inter-laced with the powerful story of Persephone and her abduction by Hades into the underworld.

And the host of young dancers - they were great! Hard work, rehearsals, commitment and dedication produced three performances of unrivalled energy and artistic excellence. It's great to have witnessed the development of this amazing gang over the years, to see their confidence, performing skills and stage awareness grows; you can tell by the studied nature and expressions on their faces how much they are completely into the art-form (also having a great and joyful time in perfecting it) and what a welcoming and beautiful venue the Electric Palace has become.

With the performance being danced on the same day as the powerful and necessary demonstrations in Bridport on climate change, the show held an important topicality. Above all, ending with the positive and optimistic singing by the company of 'Our Time Is Now’, all our futures are invested in these great young people, and there can be no stronger illustration of the absolute necessity and value of the under-funded and marginalized creative arts - theatre, poetry, visual art, music and dance.