Cambridge University Dance Society’s annual showcase, Evolution, was certainly a kaleidoscope of different dance styles. Indian, ballet, contemporary, belly dancing, ballroom, hip-hop, gymnastics; it was vibrant, eye-catching and enthusiastically performed. There were some stand-out performances, in particular 'Mayil', an Indian dance choreographed by Shrividya Ravi, Mahima Chandrasekhar, Divya Ramkumar and performed along with Architha Srinivasan. This dynamic and colourful piece was a wonderfully co-ordinated, very polished, and expressive performance. Alys Williams’ ‘Real Human Beings’ – a four part dance that followed the relationship of a girl (Williams) and boy (Hao Feng) from first meeting to break up – was similarly successful, with sensitive choreography, a sincere and stylish performance, and effective contrasts between the different stages of the relationship. Other highlights included ‘Seed of Aiwa’, choreographed and performed by Luciana Boon, ‘There is No Difference’ by Hao Feng’s TBC Dance Crew and ‘Coming of Age Ceremony’, also choreographed by Boon. There were also some fantastic gymnastics throughout the show, with quite jaw-dropping lifts and balances, while ‘Survival of the Coolest’ by Cuong Kasperzky was an interesting experimental piece, with some strong performances.

Given the evident talent of many of the dancers and choreographers, it was a shame that Evolution didn’t quite showcase their abilities as well as they deserved. Many of the dances were supposed to fit the theme of evolution, but in most cases this was impossible to guess without looking at the programme. To successfully display such a mix of dance styles, the show either needed a very strong theme that would bind all the different pieces together visually, or to dispense with the idea of a theme completely and simply present an evening of top quality dance, stylishly performed with slick scene changes, great music and imaginative costumes and scenery. Unfortunately, Evolution didn’t really succeed in the latter respect either. In too many pieces there were little quirks that let down what could have been a good performance; either the choreography was a little pedestrian, the costumes were a bit odd, the dancers seemed under-rehearsed, or they just weren’t strong enough performers to deal with the minimal staging and simple lighting.

Even though Evolution didn’t quite succeed in all aspects, it was still a fun evening. It would be good to see more dance performed at the ADC, given that there are evidently so many talented dancers and choreographers within Cambridge.