'Born to Manifest'- Just Us Dance Theatre

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Founded in 2007, Just Us Dance Theatre are an emerging dance company, fusing hip-hop and contemporary to create a rawness and relatable energy in their work. Their most recent piece ‘Born to Manifest’, choreographed by Joseph Toonga, challenges racial stigmas and champions black identity, embarking on a journey of real memory and experience of both dancers, and public.

There was an extremely powerful quality throughout, and the experiences were beautifully portrayed and poignant. The choreography, which initially began as a solo, detailed the particular stereotypes placed upon the black dancers, with significant emphasis on an ape-like motif, which conveyed perhaps a view of them being primal, underdeveloped, and even less than human from an especially racist perspective. Taking part in the after show discussion however, lessened the value of these moments for me, as they revealed it held a very literal meaning, from experiences of physically being called ‘monkey’. It is understandable that this could be the case, as the movement was generated directly from memory, but I felt at learning this, I lost a connection to it.

The performance was incredibly sensitive and gave a glimpse into the complexity of their journey, as well as relationships and perceptions. It was fascinating to examine the contrasting themes of fear and pride which ran throughout the piece, underpinning each movement, as the dancers attempted to maintain black pride in a 21st century East London.

The commitment from both performers was admirable, and it was evident the effect reliving certain moments had on the pair, particularly ‘theo’, who truly let his emotions overcome him, and although painful, this was beautiful.

To call the piece ‘hip-hop’ was misleading, as it relied heavily on contemporary technique, however overall I found it to be a thoroughly engaging experience. The dancers were able to maintain a rawness, and almost unpolished appearance, that added to the emotional quality, as they truly felt in the moment.

The work was challenging as an audience member, while clearly resonating with those of a similar cultural background. It was emotional, yet strong, interesting, yet entertaining, and although there were some points that may have benefitted from extra depth in their exploration, so as to not remain on surface level, the performance was very effective and I would be very interested in seeing more of their work in the future.





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