Something unknown before, unrecognised, lurks concealed in the shadows. Scissors cut, paper drifts, darkness falls. Twigs snap and bird bones break. A piece that hints at the fragility of life and the shock of the unexpected.

The Long Winter was part of the 2015 Wales Dance Platform. It was selected by Wales Online as one of their top picks, and was reviewed by Steve Stratford:

“Day 2 ended with what could be my favourite work of the entire Platform. If there was a theme for Wales Dance Platform, it was one of emerging talent, of facilitating and enabling young independent artists to show what they’re made of, what they can do and demonstrate their potential. But in Caroline Lamb‘s The Long Winter, we had a beautiful, delicate evocation of the ageing process, the fragility of life as we hurtle without escape toward the inevitable. Caroline has been dancing and choreographing for decades and her wealth of experience showed in spades. The five mature performers simply owned that stage the minute they set foot on it. The gravitas they carried in their movement, in their faces, should, I hope, have given the younger performers watching something to aspire to. These performers couldn’t do back-flips or body-popping or form the shapes their younger colleagues could – but they could once, and their pasts add so much to what they offer in the present. The Long Winter was a very arty piece, full of sinister costumes and ethereal choral music (from the sadly uncredited Trio Mediaeval), and I found the combination of the dancers’ experience, the choreographer’s conviction, the set and costume design, and the music incredibly moving. Bandages were used to both dress the set, and the performers, representing the ongoing efforts to fix and mend as we move through life, ageing, until it’s just not possible any longer. Janet Fieldsend and Dylan Davies roll off separately into the darkness at the end of the piece, demonstrating that we often meet Death alone, despite spending our lifetimes with others. At the end, as in the beginning, we are alone.

The power of The Long Winter stayed with me long after I’d left the building. That, for me, is a haunting legacy to leave your audience.” – Steve Stratford Reviews. 

Photography: Roy Campbell-Moore