
Shadows, Ballet Black creates a ‘haunting' dance spectacle in ‘handsome' double bill
Ballet Black has adapted Oyinkan Braithwaite's novel My Sister, The Serial Killer with irresistible verve, making murder dreadfully relatable.
It's a marvel of deft dance storytelling as it mixes stylish dancing and witty characterisation. Paired with Chanel DaSilva's A Shadow Work, it makes a handsome double bill.
Ballet Black was created to advocate for Black and Asian dancers, but this small, adventurous company has always punched well above its weight in creating new works.
Choreographed by founder Cassa Pancho, My Sister, The Serial Killer shows off the dancers' charisma and versatility.
Isabela Coracy is a superb Korede, the put-upon big sister who always has her sister's back, up to and including arriving with bleach and rubber gloves to clean up after the latest murder.
In public, there's an emphatic edge to Coracy's dancing, which melts away when we see glimpses of her private self. Working with Ebony Thomas's handsome doctor, she spins into a dancefloor fantasy; as the story darkens, we see her wrestle with her nightmares.
As her sister, Ayoola, Helga Paris-Morales soaks up admiration, turning towards male attention or to her phone camera like a flower seeking the sun.
There's a hilarious sense that murder is just part of her flirtation routine; she sways her hips as she gets out the poison bottle. Pancho and her dancers make telling details shine. When Ayoola reaches out to the doctor, we notice the bracelet, a gift from a previous victim, sparkling on her wrist.
The sisters' bone-deep relationship is the heart of the ballet. Coracy and Paris-Morales are wonderfully at home with each other. Bickering over favourite songs layered into Tom Harrold's pacy score, they flip from irritation to fondness in a second.
Pancho and associate choreographer Jacob Wye build up a compelling world around them, from daily life at the hospital to social dancing at parties. Richard Bolton's sets and Jessica Cabassa's bright costumes are simple but precise.
The ballet has a wilder side, too, as dreams haunt Korede or dancers transform into the river where the sisters dump a body.
There's a different kind of haunting in DaSilva's A Shadow Work. Taraja Hudson dances alone, with fluid steps and bold gestures.
Dark-clad dancers then emerge around her, aspects of herself that she can accept or push away. As the lead shadow, Acaoã de Castro presses his forehead into her hand, or produces a sinister box, a place for emotional baggage.
It's an episodic work, but DaSilva's choreography is fluent, both in Hudson's introspective solos and in the massed dances for the crowd of shadows.

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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
All the Father's Day freebies you can get to treat dad this Sunday worth over £150 – from free pints to day's out
From football to free steak, there's something for every dad's taste DEALS FOR DADS All the Father's Day freebies you can get to treat dad this Sunday worth over £150 – from free pints to day's out Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IT is almost our dads' big day but if the budget's tight there are still plenty of ways to celebrate them without breaking the bank. Father's Day is on Sunday, June 15 and we've put together a list of free or small cost activities to guarantee your dad has the best time. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Father's Day is almost here on Sunday June 15 Credit: Getty Dads go free There are many places across the country that are giving dads free entry for one day only. Dads go free all weekend at the Whitehouse Farm Centre, 30 minutes north of Newcastle. An adults entry costs £15.95 online or £16.95 on the day as a walk-in. The free ticket must be bought with a full paying child's ticket on June 14 and 15, while existing dad members of Whitehouse will get a free hot drink. "Superhero dads" will also get free entry to Woodlands Leisure Park in Devon if the ticket is bought online in advance and with a child's ticket. Tickets for an adult range from £20.93-£26.78 according to the website. The park has plenty of exciting things to do on the day, including rides, soft play area and even a small farm to meet some furry, four-legged friends. Other parks that offer similar deals include, Twinlakes Park and Wheelgate Theme Park, Powderham Castle and Dartmoor Zoo. Sea Life Centers across the country are offering free entry for dads from June 10 to 16. A standard entry ticket starts at £31 online. 4 Sea Life Centers are offering dads free entry Credit: SADIE OSBORNE The Eden Project in Cornwall is not only letting dad and grandads in for zero on Sunday, but they get a free pint if they dine in. A standard ticket is £38 online or £42 on the day. Food and Drink Why not take dad out for a bite to eat and drink to show how much you love him. Frankie & Benny's Italian restaurant chain, Frankie & Benny's is offering dads a free steak or pint if you pre-book a table for this week. The steak usually costs £22.75, so the deal could save mum and kids plenty of money. The steak offer is limited to the first 1,000 bookings and can be redeemed with any child's meal, all other bookings will receive a free pint or bottle of Peroni. Prezzo Another Italian chain, Prezzo, also has some pretty good offers up for grabs. Not only will dad get a free pint of Peroni on Sunday, but if he has a decent dad joke to tell, his drinks will be free for the rest of the day. The Coconut Tree But if Asian food is more to your dad's taste, then take your dad to The Coconut Tree where he can get three dishes for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. The T&C's say: "For each paying customer, one Father, Grandfather or caregiver can choose 1 Hopper, 1 Curry Dish & 1 Side for free. Valid on Sunday 15th June 2025 only." Hoppers start at £4, whilst curries £9 and sides £4 - meaning you could say a minimum of £17. Free cash schemes if you're struggling Many of us are still struggling with the high cost of living - but there's help you can get. New or expectant parents can get up to £442 a year to spend on food through Healthy Start scheme. Some new parents can get £500 via the Sure Start Maternity Grant. The money is designed to help you cover the costs of having a child. Councils also offer support through the welfare assistance schemes, to help cover the costs of essentials, from buying new furniture to food vouchers. The amount you can get varies but an investigation by The Sun found that hard-up Brits can apply for help worth up to £1,000. Discretionary Housing Payment is a pot of money handed out by councils to those struggling to keep a roof over their heads. A scheme is available for those who find themselves unable to cover housing costs, though the exact amount varies as each local authority dishes out the cash on a case-by-case basis. Many energy forms offer grants to help cash-tight customers. The exact amount varies depending on your supplier and you circumstances, but could be as much a £2,000. TGI Friday's Some TGI Friday's locations are giving dad a free drink when dining with family, if the table is booked in advance. Greene King pubs Dads can get a Jack Daniels whisky at Greene King pubs when dining with a guest between 12 and 18 June. Sign up to Greene King's mailing letter to get the voucher. Wetherspoons Some Wetherspoons branches are offering drink vouchers or discounts on meals, it's best to check with your local Wetherspoons for information. Beefeater & Brewers Fayre Beefeater & Brewers Fayre are offering a free drink or dessert with the purchase of a main meal, but offers vary by location. Desserts start at £5.19 according to the menu. Las Iguanas South American-inspired chain, Las Iguanas, is offering a free Corona or soft drink with a main meal, with a maximum of six drinks per booking. Fun, free gifts If your dad prefers to open a gift on his big day, then there are some ways to get cheap presents for him. Vodafone customers can get free socks from Sockshop and only pay £2.95 for postage. The offer is available until June 12 or until 30,000 pairs have been snapped up. Co-op is giving away Walk a Mile with Dad t-shirts from July 11. There are 5,000 available and can be picked up on Co-op's website. 4 There are plenty of ways to treat him without breaking the bank Credit: Getty Adventure dad If your father is more of a thrill-seeker then head down to Bournemouth Pier, are giving dads a free zip-line ride. A single rider ticket costs between £20 and £27. It is also hosting a weekend festival of music, food and fun for all the family. Clacton Pier is offering dads free rides all day on June 15 after doing something similar on Mother's Day. The offer is also available to grandfathers, uncles and guardians over the age of 18 when a Big Day Out Band is bought for a child. Travel Morebus in the Bournemouth region is offering free travel for fathers travelling on Sunday - as long as they are accompanied by a child buying a dayrider ticket. Football fun For the active dads, Toca Social in Birmingham is giving 100 dads the chance to play for free on Sunday.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Netflix fans left 'ugly crying' by 'absolutely heartbreaking' thriller so intense they 'had to take a break' halfway through
A Netflix tear-jerker has left fans so emotional they had to pause the film to regain their composure. 'Movies don't make you cry like this these days,' wrote one viewer online, after watching brand new heart-tugging Netflix film, 'Straw'. From the mind of Tyler Perry (writer, producer and director), Straw sends viewers spiralling through a tempestuous day in the life of 'Janiyah' (Taraji P. Henson) as she faces adversity and struggles to make ends meet for her unwell young daughter. The cerebral tale has been praised for its unexpected twist ending, and exploration of prejudice in the healthcare and banking systems, as well its call for discussion around mental health in Black communities. 'She's just trying to survive, just trying to be a great mother to her daughter, and then the circumstances in her life cause her to be in this situation,' Perry told Netflix's Tudum. 'I think that a lot of people around the world, no matter if you're a Black woman or not, will be able to relate to that feeling of, 'I'm at my last straw.'' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. After being released on June 6, Straw has rapidly ascended the Netflix charts, now hitting no.1 movie in the UK, and audiences online are bubbling over with emotion at the psychological thriller. 'I just finished watching #StrawNetflix I cried, crode and I crewwweedddd. Taraji's pain and trauma were just too much...' 'The way Straw raises awareness on psychosis , and the different stages of grief! Beautifully done! #StrawNetflix' 'Taraji P. Henson is one of THE BEST actresses ever. #StrawNetflix was simply incredible and she deserves an Oscar. 'The emotion I felt watching this was insane. I cried from start to finish. Single moms. We are incredibly strong.' 'This is a tear jerker. The ugly cry I did is unmatched.' 'I give this a 9/10. This movie triggers you emotionally in the most least expected way. Prepare to cry.' Straw marks Henson and Perry's fourth collaboration in the cinema world, having previously worked together on Acrimony, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, and The Family That Preys. In Straw, Henson is joined by a stellar cast, featuring Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor and Jingle All the Way star Sinbad, in his first role since suffering a stroke in 2020. Despite an emotive response on social media, some film reviewers were critical, suggesting that Taraji P. Henson's tear-jerking performance elevated the film, whilst the writing and plot were subpar, and unsurprising from Perry. Though critics reviews were mixed, the film received a 76% audience review on Rotten Tomatoes. Henson expressed in an interview with Extra that she anticipated a stirring response from audiences. 'You never know what cross someone is carrying,' she noted, explaining that she hoped the film would invoke an impetus to show kindness towards strangers in the audience.


North Wales Chronicle
11 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Tony Awards laud android rom-com Maybe Happy Ending and history-making Purpose
Its star, Darren Criss, had won the leading actor in a musical award just minutes before. He also hosted the Tonys pre-show. The best new play trophy at Sunday's Tony Awards went to Purpose, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' drawing-room drama about an accomplished black family exposing hypocrisy and pressures during a snowed-in gathering. It caps a remarkable year for Jacobs-Jenkins, who in addition to winning back-to-back Tonys — his Appropriate won best play revival in 2024 — earned the Pulitzer Prize for Purpose. Jacobs-Jenkins becomes the first black playwright to win for best new play since August Wilson took home the trophy in 1987 for Fences. He urged Tony viewers to support regional theatres. Purpose was nurtured in Chicago. Kara Young — the first black female actor to be nominated for a Tony Award in four consecutive years — became the first black person to win two Tonys consecutively, with the featured actress in a play trophy for her work in Purpose. Young thanked her parents, Jacobs-Jenkins, her cast and director Phylicia Rashad. 'Theatre is a sacred space that we have to honour and treasure, and it makes us united,' she said. Sunset Blvd., with Nicole Scherzinger starring as a fallen screen idol desperate to reclaim her fame, won best musical revival, handing composer Andrew Lloyd Webber his first competitive Tony since 1995, when the original show won. The current version is a stripped-down, minimalist production. Sarah Snook took home the trophy for leading actress in a play for her tireless work in The Picture of Dorian Gray, where she plays all 26 roles. 'I don't feel alone any night that I do this show,' Snook said, dismissing the idea of her play as a one-woman show. 'There are so many people onstage making it work and behind the stage making it work.' Downtown cabaret star Cole Escola took home the best actor in a play trophy for playing a deranged, repressed and over-the-top ahistorical version of Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh Mary!, beating such Hollywood stars as George Clooney and Daniel Dae Kim. Sam Pinkleton won best director for Oh, Mary! and thanked Escola, saying he taught him: 'Do what you love, not what you think people want to see.' Francis Jue won best actor in a featured role in a play for his work in a revival of Yellow Face. He said he was gifted his tuxedo from another Asian actor who wanted him to wear it to the Tonys. 'I'm only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me,' he said. 'To those who don't feel seen,' he added. 'I see you.' Jak Malone won best actor in a featured role in a musical for the British import Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, playing a woman every performance. He hoped his win could be a powerful advocacy for trans rights. Eureka Day, Jonathan Spector's social satire about well-meaning liberals debating a school's vaccine policy, won the best play revival trophy. It made its off-Broadway debut in 2019. The original cast of Hamilton, including creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, did a victory lap all dressed in black to mark the show's 10th anniversary on Broadway, with a medley including My Shot, The Schuyler Sisters, History Has Its Eyes on You and The Room Where It Happens. First-time host Cynthia Erivo kicked off the show from her dressing room in Radio City Music Hall, unsure of her opening number as the stage manager urged her to get to the stage. As she made her way through the backstage warren, she ran into various people offering advice until she reached Oprah Winfrey, who advised: 'The only thing you need to do is just be yourself.' Erivo then appeared at the stage in a red, spangly gown with white accents, hip cocked, as she launched into the slow-burning original song Sometimes All You Need Is a Song, written by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Initially alone with just a pianist, Erivo's soaring voice was soon joined by dozens of members of the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir, all dressed in white, making her look like a powerful strawberry in a bowl of whipped cream. In her opening comments, she singled out first-time nominees Louis McCartney, Sadie Sink, Escola and 'an up-and-comer that I think you're going to really be hearing quite a bit about — George Clooney'. She noted that the 2024-2025 season took in 1.9 billion dollars (£1.46 billion), making it the highest-grossing season ever and signalling that Broadway has finally emerged from the Covid-19 blues. 'Broadway is officially back,' Erivo said. 'Provided we don't run out of cast members from Succession,' a nod to appearances this season by former co-stars Snook and Kieran Culkin and last season by Jeremy Strong. She and Sara Bareilles duetted for a moving in memoriam section, singing The Sun Will Come Out from Annie, and honouring its composer Charles Strouse as well as George Wendt, Richard Chamberlain, Athol Fugard, Joan Plowright, Quincy Jones, Linda Lavin, James Earl Jones and Gavin Creel. Erivo was an amiable host, at one point appearing in the second mezzanine to comment that everyone likes the view from theatre balconies — except perhaps Abraham Lincoln. She had fun with Winfrey later on, telling her to check under her chair, where she found a gift bag with a toy automobile. 'You get a car!' Erivo cracked. The best book and best score awards went to Maybe Happy Ending, a rom-com between androids, with lyrics written by Hue Park and music composed by Will Aronson. Its director, Michael Arden, won — 'Happy Pride!' he said — and it also picked up best scenic design of a musical. Justin Peck and Patricia Delgado won for choreographing Buena Vista Social Club, and Peck noted a song from the renowned original album was played at their wedding. The musical takes its inspiration from Wim Wenders' 1999 Oscar-nominated documentary on the making of the Cuban album. Best costumes in a play went to Marg Hornwell for The Picture of Dorian Gray, while Death Becomes Her won the musical counterpart, a win for Paul Tazewell in a year where he also became the first black man to win an Oscar for designing costumes, for Wicked. 'I have dressed so many of you out there,' he said from the podium. Harvey Fierstein, the four-time Tony winner behind Torch Song Trilogy and Kinky Boots, was honoured with a lifetime achievement Tony and became emotional during his speech: 'There is nothing quite like bathing in the applause of a curtain call, but when I bow, I bow to the audience, with gratitude, knowing that without them I might as well be lip-syncing showtunes in my bedroom mirror. 'And so I dedicate this award to the people in the dark.'