Last Updated on October 3, 2026
James Brown’s Legendary Music Anchors New Dance Show The Brown Suite
3.5 out of 5.0 starsPut together a powerful, evocative musical score and a cast of truly exciting dancers and you’re more than half-way to a crowd-pleasing show. A cogent plot would perhaps push things a bit further; but even with the flimsiest of storylines The Brown Suite is an irresistible, atmospheric stage show, which has just opened at the Richmond Theatre prior to an extensive national tour.
It’s the first full length narrative dance-theatre work produced by Fundamentally Dance, the organisation behind Ballet Nights, whose founder and CEO, Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, spotted the potential of dancers and choreographers Nahum McLean and Darius Drooh, aka Blacbrik, when they brought a brief performance to an earlier edition of Ballet Nights, and decided to back their idea for a longer show.
Anchored by the music of “Godfather of Soul” James Brown, with tracks by greats Etta James and “King of Soul” Sam Cooke, The Brown Suite travels back to early1970s New York, and the streets and nightclubs where people gathered to socialise, flirt, love, display their fashions, listen to music and dance and, above all, simply let go.
The very loose narrative starts in the streets of New York, where the six characters introduce themselves individually, giving early hints of intertwined relationships, moves on to “The Brown Suite” nighclub, where, as the DJ spins the plates, things get a little fraught, and ends in collective release and celebration, which the audience are urged to join in – and if you can resist standing up and clapping to the rhythm as the dancers take their final bows, all I can say is, you’re a stronger person than me.
James Brown’s wild cry “I feel good” gets things going. Three friends joke, jostle and show off their special moves, soon joined by a fourth and then by two women. Immediately it becomes clear that their movement is wholly original, reflecting the many influences to go to make up Blacbrik’s choreographic language: ballet and contemporary dance, and movement associated with jazz, funk, blues and soul. UK born McLean and Californian Drooh met while studying at the Alvin Ailey School in New York City, and some of Ailey’s very specific style is detectable on occasion.
However, what makes their choreography exciting is the skill with which they combine a flurry of influences to create movement that’s genuinely new, vibrant and alive with contagious rhythm. That, and the skill with which the dancers grab the movement and make it their own. One gripping example is Monique Jonas’ solo set to Etta James’s goosebumps-inducing At Last. A classically-trained dancer, in this sequence of The Brown Suite Jonas adds balletic grace to a number that marks a dreamy, emotional reconciliation after a fraught break up. Elsewhere, though, she’s as funky as the rest of them.
Each dancer comes across as an individual. Young Hugo Bragg is a mischievous character, his nervous energy fizzing from the first moment his body vibrates to “I feel good”, as if hit with a thousand volts. Nahum McLean and Darius Drooh, are neat, energetic dancers; blonde, long-legged Leila Wright brings a sinuous sensuality to everything she does, most evident in her duets with the tall, brooding Joshi Martina. And tall Lukas Hunt marries skilful dancing with a strong stage presence.
Joshie Harriette’s set and lighting create just the right atmosphere. The main element is a set of vertical neon bars upstage, where the coloured lights – green, blue, yellow – can flow or remain static. At certain points they’re augmented by coloured shafts beaming from spotlights above the stage. In an interview printed in the programme (expensive at £12, but well worth having) Harriette says he was inspired by the way in which James Brown made the lights in his show part of an entire musical machine in real time. Maybelle Laye’s costume designs reference everyday clothes in 1970s Harlem, reflecting the sophistication and care people put into their image.
And then, of course, there’s the music, a generously assembled score of some seminal tracks by the three sacred monsters of 70s soul. “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”, “Soul Pride” by James Brown; Sam Cooke’s “Fool’s Paradise”, Etta James’ “I Just Want to Make Love to You”… all guaranteed to send your mind hurtling down memory lane, even as you tap your foot and resist the urge to get up and dance.
The Brown Suite is at the Richmond Theatre 30 Sept to 3 Oct at 7.30 pm and touring
Dur.: 1 hour 35 mins inc on interval. Tickets: £15 to £75.00
Richmond Theatre
The Green
Richmond TW9 1QJ
Leave a Reply