State of Play

State of Play is a good excuse to stop treating contemporary dance like something you need to understand before you see it. Across four days, ODC's festival puts premieres, works in progress and studio presentations side by side, letting you see artists at different points in the process rather than only the finished product. The lineup moves from evening-length work by Leslie Cuyjet and Laila J. Franklin to shorter pieces and experimental studio presentations, with plenty of chances to catch more than one artist in a day. The programming is especially appealing for anyone curious about how choreography gets made, not just how it looks onstage. There are also morning workshops for the dance-curious, plus an opening-night after party and DJ set. For a festival built around experimentation, State of Play feels refreshingly willing to show its workings.