Our Mighty Groove at Sadler’s Wells East

In a jubilant paean to the New York club scene, Our Mighty Groove blurs the line between the club and the theatre with a 50-minute foray into waacking, vogue, contemporary and more.

The show begins with club owner Wesley Denzil, “WD” (Dani Harris-Walters), preparing to open the doors to club Groove on its ten-year anniversary. Harris-Walters, alone on stage for a good few minutes, is immediately transfixing, displaying an incredible level of control over his movements.

Frantically tapping his watch, WD wrangles his staff (two event stewards, Reo Greenidge and Shannice Bepot, and bouncer Tony (Cache Thake)) to get everything ready before the guests start showing up.

A voiceover introduces us to each main character, explaining who they are and their connection to Club Groove. At times, this is a little distracting, a tell-don’t-show approach that doesn’t seem to have confidence in the storytelling of the choreography and performances. In reality, the ensemble are charismatic and expressive enough in their movements to tell the night’s tale without vocal support – even though a lot is going on this evening.

Between a diva-off between the reigning queen (Kabuki Johnson) and a rising influencer (Iona Brie), one girl’s first foray into the magic of Groove (Shula Carter), and a planned proposal by Tony, there’s no time for WD to take a break. The show briefly hints at something a little darker than the glitzy club lights here, but doesn’t linger. Its final message is one of friendship and respect, the assurance that, in other words, “in the club, we all fam”. It’s a little simplistic, but works well nonetheless. And in a lot of ways, we’re not here for a big message – we’re here for the joyful, exuberant performances of the company, all of whom contribute their own unique flair.

In this show, Uchenna Dance Company brings together tenured professionals and “emerging artists”, making Our Mighty Groove not just a celebration of the club scene and a rainbow of dance styles but also of young talent and collaboration.

Outside of the excellent performances, vibrant costumes from Jodie-Simone Howe bring the characters to life, while set design from Simon Kenny gives the dancers a variety of levels to work with, all of which are used to their full extent with the engaging choreography of Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu.

Our Mighty Groove is full of energy, especially when WD gets everyone up on their feet for a boogie mid-show. The simple routine is a lot of fun, easy to learn and translates perfectly onto Sadler’s Wells East’s foyer dance floor, where the crowd is led after the show ends. As golden hour hits, it’s the perfect place to be on a summer’s evening.