TAAL (2011) Alesandra Seutin was commissioned to create a new work for EXPOSURE: DANCE 2011 at the Royal Opera House and collaborate with Annette Walker to create TAAL, a duet for two female performers. The word ʻtaalʼ means ʻlanguageʼ in Afrikaans, and in India tal/taal/tali is a system of rhythm. Inspired by these meanings, this new work explores percussive rhythm in African, contemporary and tap dance. The two performers play off each otherʼs movement ideas with a slight, but discernible, competitive edge. Choreography: Alesandra Seutin in collaboration with Annette Walker Live music composition: Annette Walker Set design: Keith Snape & Leroy Walker Lighting: Rachel Shipp.

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Vocab Dance led with a new duet for Alesandra Seutin and rhythm tap dancer Annette Walker; Taal finds the two women playfully pitting their talents against one another in a duel of tempo and physicality. Seutin has often worked with a mixed vocabulary drawing on street dance and contemporary forms; here she focuses on the African People’s Dance idiom, pressing strong limbs back into the space and slapping the floor with lightning-fast feet. Walker taps back like a prowling tigress; there’s a celebration of womanhood here as well as pure rhythm and movement.