Front Line is currently chosen as the set work on the GCSE Performing Arts: Dance specification. This book will be an invaluable resource. It provides material and information for both teachers and students to support study of the work. It will also be useful to those teaching dance at a range of other levels. Front Line has become something of a signature piece for the Henri Oguike Dance Company, being in demand since their first performance of it in 2002. Sanjoy Roy, writing for the journal Dance Now hailed the work as 'being in a class of its own'. Henri Oguike, a founder member of the Richard Alston Dance Company and winner of a prestigious Jerwood Award for young choreographers in 1997, created his own company in 1999. His devotion to the primacy of the relationship between music and dance quickly earned him critical acclaim and in 2001 he received the Time Out Award for the Most Outstanding New Company. In 2003 the Arts Council England sponsored the filming of Front Line. The book provides an insight into the creation of Front Line.
Part 1 provides biographical information on the three collaborators Henri Oguike, Guy Hoare (lighting designer) and Elizabeth Baker (costume designer). It places Front Line within the artistic context of their careers. Details are also given on Dimitry Shostakovich (the composer of the music). Part 2 explores the background context of contemporary dance in the UK and suggests useful resources for study of these aspects. Part 3 gives insight into the starting points for Front Line and outlines the contributions of the choreography, music and lighting design. Part 4 lays out an analytical overview of Front Line and suggests a range of practical and theoretical tasks for the teacher to use. A chart is included giving details of a variety of dances that can be used as comparison and contrast with Front Line to enable teachers to plan their GCSE courses. Appendices provide further contextual information, resources and a bibliography. This is the third Creative Insights published by Dance Books. Along with White Man Sleeps and Rush, Front Line: Creative Insights provides an in-depth exploration of a single dance and its background contexts.
It will be of interest to a wide range of readers including teachers and students of dance and those wanting information about contemporary dance in the UK. This is the first in-depth account of Henri Oguike's work.