Dance Review: Chyna at The Vaults

An energetic and enlightening dance by Chyna, a young deaf performer who has found a clever way to express her truth through movement. Covering subjects such as the various characters on her football team, a holiday to Jamaica and communicating with her baby sister, it’s an engaging piece which makes the personal profound.

In a video projected behind her, Chyna tells the stories of things that are important to her through subtitled sign language and pencil drawings. On stage she interacts with this narrative, developing the hand movements into precise dance moves and traversing the large space. She is ably assisted by director Laurence Dollander who gives her the beat and holds up cue cards to keep the stories on track and later these move the performance into an exuberant improvisation.

It’s an interesting glimpse into an unusual world, bridging a gap with joy and music. Chyna’s confidence brings the anecdotes to life; invited into her happy place it’s impossible not to smile.

★★★★