The Center Will Not Hold review – a compelling conversation between US dance styles

Sadler’s Wells, LondonTap, waacking, jookin’, footwork and jit are among the traditional, street and club styles that come together as Michelle Dorrance showcases a startling array of forms and talent The last big US tap dance star to make a splash in the UK was Savion Glover, whose performances centred on extended solos of intense virtuosity. Michelle Dorrance, tap’s current hot property, is a completely different proposition. Her spirit is collegiate, all about collaboration (she was on the Sadler’s Wells stage last month with ballet star Tiler Peck). Dorrance’s vibe is community, and dance being a conversation between different styles, artists and eras. She has co-created The Center Will Not Hold with choreographer and B-girl Ephrat Asherie, and with a superlative cast including Charles Riley, AKA Lil Buck, pioneer of Memphis Jookin’, who was one of the first dancers to go viral, for his duet with cellist Yo-Yo Ma to Saint-Saëns’ The Swan. Lil Buck’s movement slides and glides on the tips of his trainer-toes, seemingly not touching the floor, like one of those magnetic trains that hovers over its tracks. But Riley is not the only startling talent. There is also