These Afro-American girlies don't beat around the bush. They're feisty, funny, strong and sexy and revel in their womanhood, especially all the wobbly bits, which they shake and shimmy with pride.
Hot from New York for Manchester's Re-Flex, Dance of Black Origin festival, the all-dancing, all-singing company gives girl power real meaning, as the performers celebrate the voluptuous pulchitrude of the female form.
The programme veers from strong statements calling for social change, to poignant pieces on personal struggle backed by soaring gospel voices, to a celebration of the love of music to pleas for the homeless, danced to clever, angry lines from poet Hattie Gossett.
But best of all must be Batty Moves, a paean to the female pelvis and the captivating properties of the buttocks. In Jamaica, particularly, your batty is your bottom, and artistic director Jawole Zollar's defiant, triumphal piece appeals to all "big mamas" to accept and proclaim their curves. You won't hear these women asking: "Does my bum look big in this?" It probably does and they don't care.
An infectious mix of ballet, contemporary and African tribal moves, with juddering shoulders to focus on the breasts, and every permutation of gyration imaginable to show off the rear, Batty Moves is introduced by Afro-Cuban Carolina Garcia, a pint-sized powerhouse who fuses Latino rhythms with traditional African steps, wickedly poking fun at thrusting bad girl rappers. The women form a chorus line, T-shirts tied round their waists, and waggle their bums every which way. After being joined by singer Topaz Wise, who makes Rubens's models look undernourished, the women strut their stuff in sassy solos extolling their virtues and vices.
Physically punishing, the choreography switches from fast and flashy to bump-and grind erotic, and the whole thing is one huge girls' night out. We clapped and whooped and ululated and wanted to jump on the stage.
In contrast, Shelter was a sober look at how we could all find ourselves, as the poet put it, between a rock and a hard place. The dancers portray street women who live on squares of cardboard, explode in bursts of desperation, huddle together for comfort and obsessively flick off unseen dirt. The piece is accompanied by sizzling percussion from Michael Wimberly and Wise's huge voice.
Garcia was also superb in the poignant solo Give Your Hands, raging against the machine, her hands clenched in fists of anger, open to soothe and heal, or reaching out to struggle until reposed in final peace.
Final performance tonight. Box office: 0161-907 5278.
