★★★★★

“beautiful in its simplicity”

‘Exxy’ starts us in a quiet, dusty South Australian garden. Saltbush scattered through the trees, plastic garden chairs patterned with flowers, corrugated iron (set design Kat Heath), and a kindly unseen character ‘nan’ create a safe playground on stage. Dan sets a similar tone, encouraging us to tic, stim and relax; we should be unapologetically ourselves, setting an environment to go on some self-exploration.

Dan Daw, a queer, crippled artist, transports the audience to the rural Australian outback where he grew up, working class and with very little, to explore the route of his imposter syndrome. Dan is joined by three performers who walk and talk like him, finding comfort and resilience in the possibility of finally blending in after a lifetime of standing out. Sofía Valdiri, Tiiu Mortley and Joe Brown together with Dan wonderfully bring raw and honest characters to their engaging performances. They show us the world full of competition, capitalism, and drive, where your worth is measured against a pre-conceived idea of success.

The world says you’re too disabled, or not disabled enough, fighting to show you as a fraud, demanding, “¿Quién eres? qui es-tu?” but not waiting for an answer. The show forces the audience to listen to the performers talk about themselves, and to see them. To see them as they dance and move and show us the pain they’ve endured by being forced to fit in and “corrected”.

However, not only do Dan and the performers reject this world, but they also tell us how they burst through it. The saltbush winds its way through the story and the stage, resilient like the performers, “not because I need to be”, but because it’s beautiful to be.

The show matched whimsy with wailing. Punchlines with pain. The characters took us from smiling, jokey and bashful, to showing us disabled bodies moving and dancing and unflinchingly professing their true feelings. Dan and Sarah Blanc’s rousing co-direction keeps us on our toes right from the start. They, along with Nao Nagai’s lighting and Lewis Gibson’s sound, make cohesive choices from a range of theatre tech and effects, all the way down to the tennis ball machine firing right at the audience. Through it all, however, we’re always encouraged that we’re in a safe space. The surprises are gently packaged, and everything is done with a glint in the performers’ eyes.

Exxy is beautiful in its simplicity. The performers made the audience see them for what they are: disabled and beautiful. They showed us the difficulty they had faced from the world, but then how they rejected it. They remind us what they are not, and what we are. An excellent performance all round.

A DECADE IN MOTION

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

★★★★★

“The energy is unrivalled and the mix of styles unlimited”

Following his retirement from The Royal Ballet a decade ago, Carlos Acosta would have been forgiven for hanging up his ballet shoes and resting on his laurels. Not so for Acosta, who in 2014, received a CBE for his contribution to dance. He then founded his company, Acosta Danza, and is now celebrating its tenth anniversary; firstly, by winning the National Dance Award for Best Mid-Scale Company and secondly, by paying tribute to his Cuban background and the variety of its dance culture that inspired his remarkable career. Before he became a classical dancer, Acosta (in his own words) was “a street kid who used to breakdance… ballet came later”. His first experiences came from watching Cuban folk at parties. This show, “A Decade in Motion”, is a phenomenally unique and distinctive collaboration with choreographers and dancers that blends the classical with the contemporary. Four set pieces are delivered in a little over an hour and a half. Although we are left wanting more, the curation is spot on, leaving us little time to draw breath between the routines, but just enough to appreciate, and marvel at, the precision, talent, innovation and – most importantly – the emotion on display.

The evening begins in complete silence. The skeleton of a neon lit cube encases the four dancers of Cuban choreographer George Céspedes’ “La Ecuación”. Initially, they prowl and move like caged animals, primitive and precise, before bursting with passion with an onslaught of percussion and throbbing base lines. The old meets the new, and the streetwise sits well beneath the classical proscenium arch. We are transfixed right up to the final beat, on which the performers escape their cube. Céspedes is clearly thinking outside the box.

Choreographer Javier De Frutos then takes us back to 1920s Havana with his remarkable dance piece, “98 Días”. Inspired by the Spanish playwright Federico García Lorca, it reflects the enchantment of Cuba, where Lorca is said to have spent the happiest ninety-eight days of his life. Lorca fell in love with the place that was so far away from home while we, in turn, are swept off our feet by the sheer grace and virtuosity of the arrangement. The dancers’ limbs become wings as they move like birds of paradise. Poised and supple, there is also something confrontational and tribal within the harmony of movement. This juxtaposition is thrilling and beautiful. A voiceover that narrates Lorca’s poetry overextends itself, but when the music resumes there is a melancholy and longing that cuts to the soul. A stirring tango, with touches of flamenco, rounds off the dance – breaking rules and pushing the boundaries further apart, until a solitary ticking of the clock brings us to its inevitable conclusion. Once again, we are wanting just a little bit more.

“Llamada” opens the second act. Goyo Montero’s choreography is, in a nutshell, stunning. We may not understand the intricacies of its symbolism, but the passion is undeniably felt. The harmony and synchronisation are breathtaking, and as it progresses, the steps start to trigger a sense of unease. Silent screams accompany discordant strings, and a false ending gives way to a different style altogether. We are invited to think as well as feel, yet ultimately the latter gains the upper hand.

Visually, “A Decade in Motion” is a remarkable tour de force, exemplified by its closing number which incorporates a giant video backdrop of the Havana coastline. The entire company are brought together for Alexis Fernández and Yaday Ponce’s “De Punta a Cabo”. The energy is unrivalled and the mix of styles unlimited. Pre-recorded silhouettes projected onto the back wall uncannily follow the real time movement onstage. We know it is the other way around, yet our suspension of disbelief allows us to set aside reality. Indeed, this performance is a dream. The perfect celebration of a decade of dance. And Acosta promises more. Still refusing to rest on his laurels he has said that he is “looking forward to the next ten years”. Well, Carlos – so are we!

EXXY

Battersea Arts Centre

★★★★★

“beautiful in its simplicity”

EXXY

Battersea Arts Centre then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 7th October 2025 for thespyinthestalls.com

Photography by Hugo Glendinning

Previously reviewed at this venue:

EXXY

EXXY

EXXY

A DECADE IN MOTION

Sadler’s Wells Theatre

★★★★★

“The energy is unrivalled and the mix of styles unlimited”