Cowpuncher

Choreographer Holly Blakey teams up with Oscar winning producer Mica Levi and Andreas Kronthaler from the house of Vivienne Westwood on ‘Cowpuncher’ - a one-off performance oozing style and adventure.

Picture the scene; sunrise on the plains of the wild wild west. An assembly of figures pulsate in the morning heat, moving slowly in time to the very first notes of composer Mica Levi’s ambient opener. The music rises in line with the light, the dancers wind their lassos, perfectly in sync, each in their own style. After what feels like fifteen minutes of gradual building up to FULL-TILT phantom lassoing, they explode away into their own narratives across the stage…

The scene is set and in that moment a new world is born.

Cowpuncher is another (far less romantic) term for ‘cowboy’, and we witness the darker side of classic wild western motifs through the gestures, movements and relationships of each dancer. It is a cruel terrain made all the more unforgiving by Levi’s brutal compositions. Cowpuncher is a graphic, often Lynchian watch (a saxophonist takes to the stage in an ill—fitting, high shouldered suit to serenade a lamenting dancer), but at the very same time, at all times, it is DANGEROUSLY stylish as the cast embody the Vivienne Westwood costuming with an energy befitting of a one-off performance.

We can’t imagine what it must feel like to put so much into a one-off performance, much like training for a fight we imagine. It feels a shame that more audiences won will not have the opportunity to see the show in full, however, the crystallisation of Cowpuncher as a moment in time certainly makes it all the more special. You were either catapulted to a brave new terrain (or you weren’t).

The experience was made even more special / surreal due to the fact that it was the brainchild of our friend Holly Blakey. We were awestruck. Check out Holly’s I AND ME Stories below and learn more here.