Weekly Roundup: 5 March

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Category: What To See

Published: Sunday, 04 March 2012 23:36

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

If you only see one dance show this year, you need wait no longer: Nederlands Dans Theater 2 are here at last! The superlative Ballet Black continue their New Season performances in the Linbury Studio, while upstairs in the Main House, Alina Cojocaru's performance in Romeo & Juliet is not to be missed. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to see all three shows this week!


Highlights

Nederlands Dance Theater 2: 6 - 9 March
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Nederlands-Dans-Theater-2-Mixed-Bill

NDT2, Nederlands Dans Theater's offshoot for dancers aged 17 - 23, finally makes a very long overdue return to London, with their first full-length programme since 2007. (Both NDT1 and NDT2 toured in 2010 as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations; the "youngsters" completely stole the show.) These dancers are technically brilliant, and the works selected for them perfectly showcase their speed, agility, stamina and technique - surpassed by few. The works in this triple bill include Jiří Kylián’s award-winning Gods and Dogs, Paul Lightfoot's Passe-Partout and a work by NDT Associate Artist Alexander Ekman.

If you're not in London, or if you fancy some weekends away, then you're in luck, as NDT2 will be touring around the country till the end of the month presenting a variety of other works. Details can be found here: www.danceconsortium.com/tour_details.aspx?ID=12&ResultList=1


Ballet Black: to 7 March
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details (returns only): www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17971

One of the country's best neoclassical ballet companies, Ballet Black continues their run of shows at Royal Opera House. Celebrating the end of last year's 10-year anniversary tour, their New Season features quirky new works by Royal Ballet's Jonathan Watkins and Rambert Dance Company's Jonathan Goddard, while Martin Lawrance's and Christopher Hampson's works show this small company at their best. If you're new to ballet or curious about ballet, this programme is not to be missed!


Royal Ballet: Romeo & Juliet: to 31 March
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17623

One of the hottest tickets in ballet is for Alina Cojocaru's and Johann Kobborg's Romeo & Juliet on Wednesday; their performance on Saturday had many members of the audience complaining that they perform too rarely in London, and Saturday's performance reminded us of why Alina Cojocaru is so perfect in this role. Despite lively performances from all of the cast members, you'll be heartbroken and speechless by the end.

Other performances this week include Steven McRae/Roberta Marquez on 8 March, Melissa Hamilton/Rupert Pennefather for the matinée on the 10th, and Lauren Cuthbertson/Federico Bonelli (replacing the renegade Sergei Polunin) in the evening of the 10th.


Also on:

Royal Ballet: The Dream / Song of the Earth: 5 March
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17626

Following the Royal Ballet's mid-season break, this is the final performance of this double bill featuring Ashton's adaptation of A Midsummer's Night Dream, followed by MacMillan's sombre interpretation of Mahler's song cycle. Full of entertaining twists and an aerodynamic Puck, The Dream is highly enjoyable to watch, especially with the perfectly-cast Steven McRae as Oberon. Song of the Earth is beautiful and exquisite, with Chinese influences detectable in the choreography and music. Carlos Acosta performs the Messenger of Death role beautifully - what more persuasion do you need?


Scottish Dance Theatre: 9 & 10 March
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/12130/whats-on/scottish-dance-theatre.html

The dance world was shocked when SDT's director Janet Lewis announced that she would be stepping down in order to become the new Principal at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. This programme of four works has been described as perfectly summing up her vision for this youthful company, mixing diversity with experimentation.


For the adventurous:

London Ballet Company: Olympic Dream: 6 & 7 March
Bridewell Theatre
Tickets & details: stbridefoundation.org/bridewelltheatre/eveningperformance.html?eventId=95

We noticed this listed online and thought we'd mention for any intrepid balletgoers out there. Olympic Dream is a two-act ballet tracing the evolution of the Olympics, performed by an enthusiastic but little-known ballet company.
 

Richard Alston Dance Company

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Category: Reviews

Published: Thursday, 01 March 2012 15:50

Written by Chantal Guevara

Sometimes, it's refreshing to watch a dance performance where it's simply about watching the dancers move, without any need to worry about possible missed storylines and/or subtext. And Richard Alston Dance Company's performances are just that: Alston's world-famous musicality means an evening of watching his choreographic interpretation of the music.

Richard Alston was one of the featured artists of Dance Umbrella last autumn, and his Richard Alston At Home performances at The Place offered a retrospective of his work from his earliest creations until he joined Rambert Dance Company, later becoming their Artistic Director. The current triple bill seems to continue the same theme, with the first piece of the night, Roughcut, created in 1990 for Rambert Dance Company, and culminating with Alston's latest work, A Ceremony of Carols.

Roughcut was revived last year, and the audience is immediately struck by the buoyancy of the choreography: the dancers truly dance as though springs are attached to their heels, given how much time they spend in the air, whether jumping or joyfully leaping across the stage. Apart from that, Roughcut is less recognisably "Alstonian" than other works, with few of Alston's signature moves, and freer movement. But the innate relationship with the music, performed onstage by Roger Heaton (clarinet) and James Woodrow (guitar), is as vivid as ever.

While there is a strong appeal in having dance performances accompanied by live music, A Ceremony of Carols reminded us of the vagaries of live accompaniment. Nineteen boys aged between 8 and 13 sang Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols from the rear of the stage - and with the exception of the final few minutes, their voices were significantly out of key. And unfortunately for the dancers valiantly peforming as though nothing was wrong, it was hard to focus on them or even enjoy the performance.

Richard Alston's strength is in creating smaller group sequences; A Ceremony of Carols deviates from this with much of the piece involving all 16 dancers onstage, with a few striking smaller sections, for example a very dynamic duet between Liam Riddick and Nancy Nerantzi, nearly flying across the stage, or a section for the male dancers which was led by Andres de Blust-Mommaerts. In contrast with Roughcut, the dancers were comparatively earthbound, as though to offset the "heavenly" choral and harp accompaniment.

The highlight of the evening was easily Martin Lawrance's Lie Of The Land, which originally premiered at The Place in June 2010. Opening with a very physical solo by Andres de Blust-Mommaerts in dappled lighting and silence, it's immediately evident that Lawrance's voice is distinctively his own, with only fleeting influences of Alston. In contrast with Steve Reich's repetitive music for Roughcut, the music for this piece is Ned Rorem's String Quartet which is immediately frenetic and infects the dancers and choreography accordingly.

Lie of the Land is more personality-driven than Alston's works, with the characters of the dancers strongly felt, and it's in this piece that we see the dancers at their best: a dramatic solo by Liam Riddick is accentuated by low lighting, while the most beautiful moment of the evening is Andres de Blust-Mommaerts dancing alone and dimly-lit.
 

Dance Bloggers & Reviewers Sought

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Category: News

Published: Monday, 27 February 2012 15:39

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

Cloud Dance Festival is currently seeking bloggers and/or reviewers for our website.

Our aim is to make contemporary dance and ballet more accessible to people who normally wouldn't watch either, and our writing section is our way of continuing this between festivals. As our current writers have gone somewhat quiet, we are looking for more bloggers and reviewers to join our team.

Read more ...

Weekly Roundup: 27 February

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Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 27 February 2012 13:30

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

This is one of those weeks where you desperately want a clone so that you can see all the great shows that are on offer! And they're all great... !


English National Ballet at Tate Britain: 27 Feb - 4 March
Tate Britain
Tickets & details: www.ballet.org.uk/details.php?id=15

To celebrate the opening of the new Picasso exhibition, English National Ballet will be taking over the North Duveen gallery of Tate Britain through a series of exciting workshops, classes, rehearsal and performances. While most of the activities are during office hours, there are performances on Friday evening, and a host of workshops, classes and more over the weekend.

If you're on Twitter, you can follow the dancers' tweets on https://twitter.com/#!/BalletandPhotos/enb-tweeters


29 Feb - 6 March: Ballet Black
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17971

Ballet Black are one of the leading modern ballet companies, and their latest programme follows on from their tenth anniversary tour of last year. Featuring new works by Jonathan Goddard (Rambert Dance Company), Christopher Hampson (soon-to-be Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet), Jonathan Watkins (Royal Ballet) and Martin Lawrance (Richard Alston Dance Company), this is an exciting showcase of a diverse range of choreographers. Christopher Hampson's work Storyville has been nicknamed "A Mississippi Manon"; you can read a brief feature on it by The Ballet Bag here. If you've never watched ballet before, this programme is a very good place to start!


Candoco Dance Company: 29 February
Laban Centre
Tickets & details: www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/whats-on/upcoming-performances/laban-dance-events.2200.candoco-dance-company-a-double-bill-.aspx

The leading integrated dance company performs a new double bill, ranging from pure dance to dance theatre. In Translation by Emanuel Gat "shows the dancers’ refined musicality and delights with its detailed and exquisite movement" while the new work by Claire Cunningham shows you just how very much can be achieved with a pair of crutches! Claire Cunningham's work has been commissioned for Unlimited, a project by the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.


Richard Alston Dance Company: 29 February & 1 March
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Richard-Alston-Triple-Bill

This latest triple bill from Richard Alston Dance Company is a triple bill of favourites: a revival of his "iconic" Roughcut from 1990, which is often cited as audiences' favourite Alston work, and Martin Lawrance's Lie of the Land, which was one of our highlights of 2010 - watch out for Andres de Blust-Mommaerts's amazing performance! Completing the triple bill is Alston's latest work, A Ceremony of Carols, which will be accompanied by a choir and harp.

If you already love Alston or are curious about his work, make sure you don't miss this.  


BalletBoyz: 3 & 4 March
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/BalletBoyz-The-Talent-2012

If contemporary dance had boy bands, then BalletBoyz would be at the top. Following the launch of "The Talent" in 2010, their repertoire has been refined, and this is another chance to see 2011's award-winning programme, featuring Russell Maliphant's Torsion, adapted from the original duet created for the original Boyz, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, Paul Roberts’ Alpha which is all sweetness and light, and the full-force impact of Jarek Cemerek's Void, brilliantly lit by Andrew Ellis. They're preparing a new programme of works, so this may be one of your last chances to see this programme.

And make sure you get one of their 'REAL MEN WEAR TIGHTS' tshirts or hoodies. And whether or not you see them, if you're on Twitter, follow them at @balletboyz!


Royal Ballet, Romeo & Juliet: 3 March
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17623

Returning after a mid-season break, the first outing of MacMillan's storyladen Romeo & Juliet offers audiences the chance to see Alina Cojocaru and Johann Kobborg in the lead roles; when Romeo & Juliet was performed at the O2, despite the star billing of Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta, it was Alina Cojocaru's Juliet which received all the rave reviews. With Johann Kobborg expected to retire soon, this may well be one of the last opportunities to see him as his fiancée's Romeo. If you can't get tickets for the 3rd, they perform again on 7 March. In the meantime, you'll be treated to lots of storytelling (but no mime!), wonderful dancers and some beautiful dance sequences - and of course, music which will stay with you long afterwards.

What To See: March

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Category: What To See

Published: Thursday, 23 February 2012 13:32

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

NDT2, Ballet Black, Richard Alston, BalletBoyz, Romeo & Juliet: aren't you feeling a little bit spoiled by the first half of March? If you are busy between 6 and 9 March, we urge you to cancel your plans and book to see NDT2 NOW while tickets are still available. Many agree that they are one of the best dance companies in the world, and if you don't already agree, make sure you see them to understand what all the excitement is about. "Excitement" also applies to Ballet Black's new season; having celebrated their first ten years, Ballet Black has commissioned new works by Jonathan Goddard (Rambert Dance Company), Martin Lawrance (Richard Alston), Jonathan Watkins (Royal Ballet) and Christopher Hampson (soon-to-be-AD of Scottish Ballet).


Sadler's Wells

29 February & 1 March: Richard Alston
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Richard-Alston-Triple-Bill

This latest triple bill from Richard Alston Dance Company is a triple bill of favourites: a revival of his "iconic" Roughcut from 1990, which is often cited as audiences' favourite Alston work, and Martin Lawrance's Lie of the Land, which was one of our highlights of 2010 - watch out for Andres de Blust-Mommaerts's amazing performance! Completing the triple bill is Alston's latest work, A Ceremony of Carols, which will be accompanied by a choir and harp.

If you already love Alston or are curious about his work, make sure you don't miss this.  


3 & 4 March: BalletBoyz
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/BalletBoyz-The-Talent-2012

If contemporary dance had boy bands, then BalletBoyz would be at the top. Following the launch of "The Talent" in 2010, their repertoire has been refined, and this is another chance to see 2011's award-winning programme, featuring Russell Maliphant's Torsion, adapted from the original duet created for the original Boyz, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, Paul Roberts’ Alpha which is all sweetness and light, and the full-force impact of Jarek Cemerek's gritty Void, brilliantly lit by Andrew Ellis. They're preparing a new programme of works, so this may be one of your last chances to see this programme.

And make sure you get one of their 'REAL MEN WEAR TIGHTS' tshirts or hoodies. And whether or not you see them, if you're on Twitter, do follow them at @balletboyz.


6 - 9 March: Nederlands Dans Theater 2
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Nederlands-Dans-Theater-2-Mixed-Bill

Not only is NDT2 considered to be one of the best contemporary dance/modern ballet companies in the world, but all of the dancers are between 17 and 23. You'll be truly amazed by what these dancers can do - go see them! In fact, if you see nothing else all year, make sure you see NDT2!

Unusually, they're performing the same programme all four nights, so diehard fans will have to consider following them around the country to see the other programmes. We recommend seeing them in Nottingham and Edinburgh, if you're up for it.


25 March - 7 April: Pet Shop Boys & Javier De Frutos — The Most Incredible Thing
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Pet-Shop-Boys-and-Javier-De-Frutos-The-Most-Incredible-Thing

This is the return of last year's successful production, which managed to pack out Sadler's Wells on a nightly basis with bemused Pet Shop Boys fans. It's more of a dazzling spectacle than a dazzling dance show, although we're very excited to hear that Aaron Sillis, Ivan Putrov and Yuyu Rau are returning, while Diarmaid O'Meara  (recently seen in Ballet Ireland, and in two of our past festivals) will be joining the cast for the first time. Javier De Frutos's choreography is very tame and family-friendly (in an interview, he explained that he'd been instructed to make "family-friendly" choreography. His response was: "what family?"); the middle section is by far the best.


Royal Opera House

29 Feb - 6 March: Ballet Black
Linbury Studio
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17971

Ballet Black are one of the leading modern ballet companies, and their latest programme follows on from their tenth anniversary tour of last year. Featuring new works by Jonathan Goddard (Rambert Dance Company), Christopher Hampson (soon-to-be Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet), Jonathan Watkins (Royal Ballet) and Martin Lawrance (Richard Alston Dance Company). Christopher Hampson's work Storyville has been nicknamed "A Mississippi Manon"; you can read a brief feature on it by The Ballet Bag here. If you've never watched ballet before, this programme is a very good place to start!


3 - 31 March: Romeo & Juliet
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17623

Returning after a mid-season break, MacMillan's storyladen Romeo & Juliet offers audiences the chance to see Alina Cojocaru & Johann Kobborg, Steven McRae & Roberta Marquez, Lauren Cuthbertson & Federico Bonelli and Edward Watson & Lauren Benjamin in the lead roles. With lots of storytelling (but no mime!), wonderful dancers and some beautiful dance sequences, it's easy to see why it's so damn hard to get tickets for this!


17 March - 16 April: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=18143

Originally opening with a lavish premiere a year ago, Christopher Wheeldon's full-length work for the Royal Ballet has undergone some tweaks and returns with new sections and an additional interval. Expect outlandish costumes, hilarious characters and impressive projections to make this a truly memorable Alice.


At a cinema near you

22 March: Live screening of Romeo & Juliet
Tickets & details: cinema.roh.org.uk/now-booking/nearest/*/23347

If you fancy something a bit different, or if going to the Royal Opera House isn't an option, this is a great opportunity to watch the Royal Ballet from the comfort of a cinema seat. Originally intended to broadcast Lauren Cuthbertson with Sergei Polunin, audiences will now be able to see Federico Bonelli as her Romeo.


Also showing

12 & 20 March: In Conversation
Clore Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=18827

As part of Royal Opera House's In Conversation series, Christopher Wheeldon will be talking on 12 March, followed by Lauren Cuthbertson on 20 March. Both will be reflecting on their careers and achievements to date, and considering what the future holds for them. Both are currently sold out, but tickets will be released 24 hours beforehand, if not before then.


13 - 15 March: Ivan Putrov's Men In Motion
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Ivan-Putrov-Sergei-Polunin-Men-in-Motion

Announced only 3 weeks before its opening night, this is a swift reprisal of Ivan Putrov's celebration of male dancers, presenting some of the more significant male roles from the past century in dance. January's Men In Motion was somewhat overshadowed by the "#sergeistorm" - the shock resignation of Sergei Polunin from the Royal Ballet only a few days beforehand, and the weak programme wasn't helped by the loss of several of his dancers due to visa problems.

The new lineup offers a brand new work by Sergei Polunin, whose post-Royal Ballet life appears to be a series of galas, Nijinsky's L'Apres-midi d'un faune and a solo originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov.


16 & 17 March: Protein Dance
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/12134/whats-on/protein.html

Protein Dance's LOL (Lots of Love) wowed audiences last year when it toured the country, and has since picked up a number of awards. Awkwardly exploring Facebook, emails, online chatting and dating, this dance theatre piece is sometimes witty, sometimes hilarious, and otherwise enjoyable to watch. If you missed it last year, or want to see it again, then this is your chance.


29 - 31 March: New Dance Commissions
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=18821

Continuing ROH2's ongoing support of emerging talented choreographers, this programme celebrates the completion of Freddie Opoku-Addaie's, Laïla Diallo's and Sarah Dowling's  two years on ROH2’s Choreographic Associate Scheme with new works commissioned by ROH2. Laïla Diallo, a former dancer with Wayne McGregor's Random Dance, will explore the themes of migration and transience accompanied by live music. Sarah Dowling, whose work has spanned cinema and theatre, has given her work a science-fiction edge, while Freddie Opoku-Addaie, recent Place Prize Finalist, delves into his memories of being surrounded by the daily routine of craft artists. Regardless of the subject matters, it'll be interesting to see the work of these three choreographers and how they've grown as a result of the scheme.

Weekly Roundup: 20 February

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Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 20 February 2012 09:40

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

It's a very quiet week indeed for dance.... So we urge you to see Exposure: Dance at the Royal Opera House (no ballet in sight!), and if you're adventurous, there's a musical on offer at the Union Theatre, choreographed by Drew McOnie with our beloved Raymond Tait as Dance Captain.


Exposure: Dance: 23 - 25 February
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: http://www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=19428

From the ROH website: Exposure: Dance presents short works by emerging choreographers, with premieres from Alexander Whitley and aerialist Ilona Jäntti, Jorge Crecis’ sport-dance piece 36, a duet by Gary Clarke performed by New Art Club, and a different special guest each evening: Boy Blue Entertainment on Thursday, Company Chameleon on Friday and Rachael Mossom on Saturday. Plus pre-show foyer entertainment Levantes Dance Theatre – Canapé Art.

We're going to support Alexander Whitley, of Random Dance, New Movement, and the star of last year's Draft Works. We also want to see New Art Club - we can't start to imagine them performing at the Royal Opera House!


Something Different

Patience: until 10 March
Union Theatre
Tickets & details: www.uniontheatre.biz/#/patience-info/4559322589

If you're in the mood for a musical, then Sasha Regan's all-male company's latest production is Gilbert & Sullivan's Patience, a satire on the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century. With choreography by Drew McOnie, and Raymond Tait as Dance Captain, there's much to enjoy in this relatively lesser-known work about two men competing for the affections of the eponymous heroine.

Jealousy

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Category: Reviews

Published: Tuesday, 14 February 2012 21:31

Written by Chantal Guevara

Every now and then, a dance piece is based on a certain work (eg Alice in Wonderland, Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast), or inspired by a particular artist (eg Tennessee Williams, Auguste Rodin) - but how necessary is it for the audience to be familiar with that work in order to fully appreciate the performance? Is familiarity necessary to benefit from the full impact of the work, or can the audience be relied upon to form their own interpretation of the piece regardless of prior knowledge?

Jealousy was based on the 1957 novel by Alain Robbe-Grillet; the set, designed by Laurence Kavanagh, places the three characters of Husband, Wife (and her double) and Lover in a house-like structure, with visible doorframes, hanging poles, window blinds, and chairs set in opposite corners. Charlie Lucas's lighting was extremely remarkable, creating dramatic effects and touches throughout the performance.

The opening solo was by Daniel Hay-Gordon, initiating the movement for his solo with the swaying of a hanging pole, accompanied by a haunting female vocalist's solo. As he moved around the space, we could see his suspicion build until his wife appeared, and they swiftly degenerated into a confrontation, albeit with very nice touches.

Jealousy has been co-choreographed by Daniel Hay-Gordon, James Cousins, Hubert Essakow and Morgann Runacre-Temple, and each has choreographed individual sections, which leaves us with Essakow's dancers arriving onstage as Hay-Gordon's section is about to end, and occasional interactions between each choreographer's dancers. Rather than present the choreographers' work in 15 minute blocks, their sections are brief, endlessly shifting back and forward, matching the changing dynamics of the story and of the music; towards the end, we see all four women onstage.

There is little storytelling in each section, so it is hard to tell how the performance relates back to the source novel, however there are many interesting moments and plenty of great dance to watch. It is an unusual concept to bring together four very different choreographers to work together on a piece such as this, and certainly the changing styles help to develop the story further. While Daniel Hay-Gordon is such a beautiful dancer to watch, the audience would probably be happy to watch him perform solo for the full hour, Morgann Runacre-Temple achieves far more in her short sections, with creative use of space, unusual ideas for her dancers' partnering, and the most vivid storytelling. Hubert Essakow's two dancers represented the two sides of The Wife, culminating in a feverish duet towards the end; although very enjoyable to watch, his sections lacked the dramatic tension of the other three choreographers. James Cousins's choreography, the most "contemporary" of his co-choreographers', was sharp and crisp, with sensual duets depicting shifting dynamics, relying on repetition to emphasise certain scenes.

Jealousy is a fantastic idea by The Print Room, and a wonderful experience for the audience, with works by some very exciting choreographers in an unusual setting. It's only on for a few more days, with limited ticket availability, but it's definitely worth seeing if you can get a ticket!
 

Weekly Roundup: 13 February

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Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 13 February 2012 15:28

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

Resolution! finally comes to an end this week, while over in the Print Room, there are several more chances to watch the exciting partnership of four exciting choreographers.


Jealousy - until Feb 18
The Print Room, 34 Hereford Road, London W2 5AJ
Tickets & details: www.the-print-room.org/page37.htm

Following the recent trend of creating dance/art collaborations, Jealousy is a performance project using an installation created by Laurence Kavanagh, the narrative structure of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s 1957 cine-novel Jealousy and choreography from four choreographers, James Cousins (CDF July '11), Morgann Runacre-Temple (CDF March '10), Hubert Essakow and Daniel Hay Gordon. Our review is yet to be completed, but it's a fascinating show with some excellent performances - worth seeing if you can get one of the few tickets left!


Jacky Lansley: Guest Suites - 17 & 18 Feb
Clore Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=19097

Guest Suites is renowned 'New Dance' choreographer Jacky Lansley's latest creation, inspired by Bach’s Cello Suites. Central to Guest Suites is the idea of artists guesting in each other’s worlds. A core ensemble of four dancers will be joined by guest dancers and actors; performers include dancers Fergus Early, Tim Taylor and Ayano Honda and actor Vincent Ebrahim.

There will be a post-show talk after the performance on 17 February 2012


Ballet Black in Rehearsal: Feb 16
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/booknow/reserve.aspx?perfid=17923 (sold out; check for day tickets and returns)

This is a rare opportunity to watch award-winning contemporary ballet company Ballet Black in rehearsal, with a Q&A session for the audience. Their new programme, opening at the Royal Opera House on 29 February, features new works by Jonathan Goddard, Jonathan Watkins, Christopher Hampson and Martin Lawrance; this evening will give you a sneak preview of what they'll be performing!


Resolution!: Feb 17
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/11701/whats-on/yuyu-rau-divo-company-seke-chimutengwende-friends.html

The final night of Resolution! usually has a special atmosphere, enhanced by The Place saving some of the best companies for last. This year, Yuyu Rau (CDF March '10) will be presenting her new work Beloved Emoh with her distinctive style of fusing contemporary dance with classical Chinese dance. Seke Chimutengwende & Friends will be performing an entertaining semi-improvised new work, Mr Lawrence. Send off this year's Resolution! in style...

Resolution! - 7 February

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Category: Reviews

Published: Thursday, 09 February 2012 15:13

Written by Chantal Guevara

While sometimes you're lucky enough to get a Resolution! night where all or most of the pieces are of a high standard, there are also those evenings where the majority of the works on offer are a little rougher or a little less impressive. This was one of those evenings, although it concluded with a standout performance by James Löffler.

The opening piece of the evening was Greyscale by penny & jules dance company, about two women at the breaking point of suicidal thoughts. It started with an introspective solo by Kate Szolar, varying between fast movement and pauses. This led into a confrontational duet in near-darkness, showing the support and friction between the two women, with one of them in near-despair. The choreography later picked up pace, but told us less than their initial duet, despite the use of creative lighting.


There's something irresistable about watching a shadowy topless man dancing against a backdrop of haze, and Tomos Young of TYDC took full advantage of this, performing a very dramatic and enjoyable capoeria-inflenced solo at the start of Breaking Point. Unfortunately the rest of his piece didn't live up to this early promise, with limited repetitive choreography for the five women in his company. At one point, Young returned onstage, as though to reproach the women for their half-hearted performance by showing how his range of motion and fluidity outstripped  theirs.  


The final piece of the evening, LFO by James Löffler, had been highly recommended, and did not disappoint. A piece for four men and three women, it displayed Löffler's versatility with markedly different styles for the men and women. In addition to his sharp choreography, Löffler showed a strong musicality, no doubt helped by having edited, partly-composed and mixed the music. Löffler also maximised the physicality of his choreography through extensions and suspensions. There was an edge to his dancers' duets; at one point, there were two male duets onstage, one with near-violent feel to it while the other duet was tender and sensitive by comparison.

The choreography for his male dancers was fast, powerful and dynamic - 2Faced Dance need to watch out or commission Loffler to create a work for them! The choreography for his female dancers showed influences of Wayne McGregor and Michael Clark, and the '80s throwback feeling wasn't helped by the women's costumes of sports bra and underwear. But while Löffler showed initial McGregor influences, he was determined to shatter these by the end in an aggressive group section, accompanied kickboxing, cage-dancing and gunfire sounds, followed by a beautiful solo by Sonoya Mizuno. James Löffler has the makings of one to watch - let's look forward to seeing what he creates next!
 

Royal Ballet: The Dream & Song of the Earth

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Category: Reviews

Published: Wednesday, 08 February 2012 00:40

Written by Chantal Guevara

The opening night of the Royal Ballet's latest double bill was special for two reasons: a unique opportunity to watch Alina Cojocaru, Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta in the same evening, and the focus placed on The Dream after Sergei Polunin unexpectedly resigned a week before his debut in the leading role.

From the opening scenes with shadowy fairies, pausing intermittently for effect, The Dream was peopled with a dizzying cast of characters, both fairy and non-fairy. Frederick Ashton compressed the story of A Midsummer's Night Dream into 52 minutes, so in addition to the lead roles, we also saw the two pairs of lovers, Helena and Demetrius, and Hermia and Lysander, and a wonderfully entertaining ensemble of Rustics, with plenty of hayseeds between them.

Steven McRae had already been scheduled to perform Oberon with Roberta Marquez as Titania, so he was a natural choice of replacement for Sergei Polunin, and his confident masterful performance easily banished any thoughts of Polunin. While his other performances, for example in Manon, may have been tinged with a little too much self-confidence, this was perfect for his portrayal of Oberon, which resulted in being one part otherwordly, one part regal, one part untouchable. London audiences have been starved of Alina Cojocaru lately, and despite being almost unrecognisable in a curly blonde wig, her performance was as captivating as ever - few dancers have the ability to dance with such lightness, or appearing so full of delight. But both were easily overshadowed by Valentino Zucchetti as Puck: all enthusiasm and leaps, his Puck resembled a puppy on speed, overcome with eagerness and overexcitement! Much of the audience was in laughter at his antics - only to bid him a sad farewell at the end of The Dream.

Song of the Earth is one of MacMillan's best-loved one-act ballets, set to Mahler's song cycle, and drawing on the ancient Chinese poems used in the songs for inspiration. It was recently performed by Scottish Ballet in their recent visit to Sadler's Wells, and it was a treat not only to see it again, but to watch it performed by the familiar faces of the Royal Ballet's dancers. A further treat was the return of Rupert Pennefather and Lauren Cuthbertson in two of the lead roles, following recent injuries.

Song of the Earth is about two lovers who are stalked by Death - performed by Carlos Acosta on very good form; the lovers were portrayed by Tamara Rojo and Rupert Pennefather. The constrained choreography suited Acosta, a technically challenging role which provided him with moments of virtuosity amid a beautifully nuanced performance. Rupert Pennefather was making his debut as the Man, and although he did not appear to be entirely comfortable in his role at times, he gave a strong performance, starting with his and Acosta's dramatic entry onstage. As Song of the Earth uses such a wide cast of dancers, it's an excellent opportunity for them to shine, which certainly Olivia Cowley, Alexander Campbell and Ricardo Cervera did - but special mention goes to Lauren Cuthbertson for her wonderful joyful solo during the fourth song.

Along with a number of MacMillan's one-act ballets, the choreography is distinctively stylised, and Song of the Earth draws on the Chinese inflections in the music to infuse his choreography with Chinese imagery, from elegant curves to the men's upside-down horse-riding stance, which provoked laughter from the audience. While the actions the depicted by the dancers are not always identifiable, every moment of the choreography is so beautiful, it hardly matters.

Russell Maliphant, The Rodin Project

Details

Category: Reviews

Published: Wednesday, 08 February 2012 00:30

Written by Chantal Guevara

Few can envy Russell Maliphant: after the unprecedented success of Afterlight, originally commissioned in 2009 for Sadler's Wells' In The Spirit of Diaghilev programme, there must have been significant pressure on him to create yet another masterpiece. But The Rodin Project is partly a return to his previous style, and partly something more - as though Maliphant feels that he wants to try a break now and try something new. And The Rodin Project is definitely something new.

Very little information was available prior to the performance, solely that this new work was inspired by Rodin's works, and that he was working with dancers from diverse backgrounds, following a visit to Breakin' Convention. Maliphant would again be collaborating with Michael Hulls for lighting design, Es Devlin and Bronia Housman for set design and Alexander Zekke for the evocative cello-based score. And it was premiered in Paris. Fans of Tommy Franzén knew through Twitter and Facebook that he was participating, but the rest of the cast seemed shrouded in secrecy.  

The Rodin Project feels very much like two separate pieces, divided by the interval, such is the contrast between them. The first half has a strong Grecian feel, emphasised by the sheets draped over the set, hanging from above, the toga-like costumes of the three women and the loose shorts of the men. And it is in this first section that you feel that Maliphant is trying to interpret the movement of Rodin's sculptures, had they been able to move: Tommy Franzén, Thomasin Gülgeç and Dickson Mbi slowly move between poses reminiscent of The Thinker and Rodin's other better-known sculptures. The women's roles rarely rise above that of a Greek chorus, upgraded in the second half from Grecian backing singers to modern-day backing singers. Much of the movement takes place at the familiar Maliphant half-speed, however when it speeds up, it's exciting: we see a fight between Jenny White and Tommy Franzén, poles suspended between their hands, which degenerates into playfighting then flirtation; later, there is an electrifying "battle" between Tommy Franzén and Thomasin Gülgeç, drawing on hip hop, capoeira, acrobatics and other martial arts - it's a scene which you never want to end.

The second half shifts restlessly from theme to theme, sometimes lingering a little too long, sometimes without clear connection. The sheets and outmoded costumes are stripped away, and we see the dancers in modern street clothes, performing streetdance to modern music. In other disjointed moments, we see Dickson Mbi flexing his muscles atop the piled-up set; we later see a nude Jenny White, barely covered by a white sheet, slowly toying with the sheet and releasing it as the lights dim.

If the first half explored the world of the sculptures themselves, the second half set out to recreate certain sculptures, for example The Burghers of Calais, and Rodin's hand sculptures. The first half was dominated by Tommy Franzén's high-powered performances while Dickson Mbi featured prominently in the second half, as well as Thomasin Gülgeç with a memorable raw solo towards the end. And throughout, Maliphant remained faithful to Rodin, from the sculptural effects of Michael Hull's incredible lighting, the set which resembled the base of a sculpture, and the use of hip hop as a style of dance as it resembles sculpture most closely, with the dancers shifting from one frozen position to another frozen position. Throughout, too, the men appeared to be as demigods, topless throughout, while the women seemed to portray temple maidens: pure, yet potentially sultry and seductive.

It's definitely a piece for Rodin lovers; other audience members may well be left puzzled, seeing it as a sum of many disparate parts in which general movement plays a far greater role than dance.

Weekly Roundup: 6 February

Details

Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 06 February 2012 14:04

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

Now that British Dance Edition is over, all of the companies which participated are presumably taking a much-needed break - and Resolution! returns after its one-week break.

Jealousy: 6 - 18 February
The Print Room
Tickets & details: www.the-print-room.org/page37.htm

Following the recent trend of creating dance/art collaborations, Jealousy is a performance project using an installation created by Laurence Kavanagh, the narrative structure of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s 1957 cine-novel Jealousy and choreography from four choreographers, James Cousins (CDF July '11), Morgann Runacre-Temple (CDF March '10), Hubert Essakow and Daniel Hay Gordon. Tickets have already sold out for the first three nights, but try to go if you can!


Royal Ballet: The Dream / Song of the Earth: 6 - 9 Feburary
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17626

The Royal Ballet's latest double bill returns three more times this week, with exciting casts each night, including a guest performance from ABT's Marcelo Gomes on 9 February. The Dream is a fairy-heavy retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream with a truly unforgettable Puck, while the Chinese-infused Song of the Earth is another work of beauty from MacMillan about Death and two lovers.


Worth Seeing

Resolution!: 7 February
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/11679/whats-on/penny-jules-dance-company-tydc-james-loffler.html

The lucky dip that is Resolution returns on 7 February, and we're looking forward to seeing James Loffler's new work on 7 February, following lots of enthusiastic feedback from his past work.


Cloud Dance Festival Corner

Resolution!: 10 February
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/11686/whats-on/impermenance-dance-theatre-exzeb-simonetta-alessandri.html

Those of you who came to our July and/or December festivals in 2009 may remember Josh Ben-Tovim of Nexus Dance; his latest project is Impermanence Dance Theatre, a Devon-based collective of European interdisciplinary performers, which is performing for the first time at Resolution on Friday. Their past works have been received well, so we're hoping that Resolution! audiences love them!
 

Weekly Roundup: 30 January

Details

Category: What To See

Published: Sunday, 29 January 2012 23:42

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

This week is dominated by two events: British Dance Edition, and the new Royal Ballet double bill, which had originally cast Sergei Polunin in one of the starring roles. See below for more details...


Royal Ballet: The Dream / Song of the Earth - from 1 February
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17626 (mostly sold out, but keep an eye out for returns)

Extra focus has been placed on Frederick Ashton's The Dream, a one-act rendering of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in the wake of the abrupt departure of Sergei Polunin, scheduled to perform as Oberon in three of the six performances. No replacement has been scheduled as yet, but rumours suggest that Steven McRae, recent recipient of the Critics' Circle Best Male Dancer Award, will be taking over this role.

Song of the Earth is one of Kenneth MacMillan's best-loved one-act ballets, and is a poignant meditation on Death and two lovers, set to Mahler's song-cycle and drawing on the source Chinese poems for artistic inspiration.

With Alina Cojocaru as one of the lead roles in The Dream, and Tamara Rojo, Marianela Nuñez, Carlos Acosta and Edward Watson in Song of the Earth, this will be a truly spectacular show.


Russell Maliphant: The Rodin Project - 5 February
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Russell-Maliphant-Company (sold out, but keep an eye out for returns)

Following the award-winning Afterlight, The Rodin Project is Russell Maliphant's latest work, inspired by the creations of French sculptor Auguste Rodin; dancers include Tommy Franzén. More information will probably be available after The Rodin Project's premiere in Paris on 31 January.


Also worth seeing

Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, Candoco Dance Company, Hofesh Shechter Company - 2 & 3 February
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Wayne-McGregor-Random-Dance-Candoco-Dance-Company-Hofesh-Shechter-Company

This triple bill opens with Wayne McGregor's 2010 work for his company, FAR, followed by a performance by Candoco Dance Company of Trisha Brown's 1983 work Set & Reset and its 2011 restaging, Reset. Candoco Dance Company is one of this country's leading integrated dance companies, and recently celebrated its 20th birthday to critical acclaim. The Art of Not Looking Back is a work created by Hofesh Shechter for his company's female dancers.


Richard Alston Dance Company & National Dance Company of Wales - 4 February
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
Tickets & details: ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/dance-performance/tickets/richard-alston-dance-company-and-national-dance-company-wales-62943

This double bill features erstwhile favourites Richard Alston Dance Company presenting Alston's latest work, Unfinished Business, alongside a rare London appearance by National Dance Company of Wales performing By Singing Light by Stephen Petronio using Dylan Thomas's poetry. The performance will be accompanied by the BBC National Chorus of Wales and live harp music.

Ivan Putrov, Men In Motion

Details

Category: Reviews

Published: Saturday, 28 January 2012 17:56

Written by Chantal Guevara

Until the start of this week, Men In Motion had been slightly overlooked in the new Sadler's Wells programme as a show essentially for balletomanes featuring guests from the leading Russian ballet companies. That all changed at 6pm on Tuesday 24 January with the shock news that the Royal Ballet's brightest star, and one of the Men In Motion dancers, Sergei Polunin, had resigned from the Royal Ballet with immediate effect, no reasons provided. In the four days since then, press and social media alike have been awash with speculation and theories - there are currently 215 news articles online about his departure - but without further news, and in the meantime, increasing focus has been placed on this show, with tickets selling rapidly.

Last-minute visa issues left the promised Bolshoi and Mariinsky dancers stranded in Russia and award-winning dancer Aaron Sillis was a last-minute replacement. Unfortunately, the loss of the Russians meant that half of the second section of the programme had to be scrapped, resulting in a very meagre too-short programme.

Men In Motion, produced by former Royal Ballet principal dancer Ivan Putrov, is a celebration of men in dance, offering a review of signature roles for male dancers from the past century. The evening could almost have been a tribute to Nijinsky, whose brief career has overshadowed so much of the past century in dance: Spectre de la Rose was one of Nijinsky's best-known roles, Russell Maliphant's Afterlight was evocative of Nijinsky, drawing on his diaries for inspiration, and even Kasian Goleizovsky's Narcisse seemed to conjure up the doomed dancer.

The opening piece was Spectre de la Rose, a short duet by Fokine in which a debutante (originally Tamara Karsavina) falls asleep after her first ball, and dreams that she is dancing with the spirit of the rose she is clutching (originally Vaslav Nijinsky). Performed by English National Ballet's Elena Glurdjidze and Mariinsky Ballet's Igor Kolb, the duet didn't quite manage to transport the audience; while Kolb's and Glurdjidze's solo performances were lovely to watch, there was a tiny little something lacking from their duets - and a fair amount of height lacking from Kolb's final leap out of the window.

Opening with an impressive jump, Narcisse was the perfect vehicle for Sergei Polunin, justifying all of the praise heaped on him so far, and beautifully showcasing his talents with repeated animalistic leaps and pirouettes, all delivered with ferocity and fire. It's been claimed that Polunin no longer wants to continue dancing, and this performance reinforces what a huge loss it would be if he chose to do so.

Ivan Putrov's solo in Ashton's Dance of the Blessed Spirits was intended to follow the first interval, and certainly not the passionate solo by Polunin. Putrov's solo was much more restrained and dignified, suggestive of Orpheus still seeking his Eurydice as he circles around the stage again and again. A deceptively complex role, it was performed well by Putrov, but never managed to match the intensity of Polunin's performance.

In such a programme celebrating male ballet dancers, nobody expected that the undisputed star of the evening would be Daniel Proietto, performing in Russell Maliphant's Afterlight. Awards have been heaped on both Maliphant and Proietto for this solo, and this evening's performance was definitely in a league above the rest of the programme. From the slow poignancy at the start, Proietto was perfectly poised and graceful as the piece increased speed and tension with each successive Gnossienne by Erik Satie; the magic truly began in the third Gnossienne as Proietto threw off his jacket and hat. Totally spellbinding and mesmerising, even in the smallest moments, Proietto's lithe grace captivated the audience, enhanced by the ethereal lighting created by Michael Hulls. One of those pieces which you don't want to end, this is contemporary dance at its best.

The programme ended with Ithaka, choreographed by Ivan Putrov, ostensibly about a man torn between a male lover and the flirtations of a woman. From the languorous opening solo with its high jumps and turns, Putrov was determined to show us that he's still at his prime, even if he's largely absent from our stages. Nevertheless, he was upstaged by Aaron Sillis, all passion and hair, from their initial electric duet. In contrast with the electrifying duo of Putrov and Sillis, Putrov's partnership with Elena Glurdjidze chaste character was less successful, with little chemistry evident between them. But not for long: Sillis reclaimed Putrov, and one of Ithaka's strongest moments was of Sillis and Putrov staring at each other while Glurdjidze danced between them, obliviously.

Although the visa issues were responsible for Aaron Sillis's involvement in Men In Motion, the loss of Andrei Merkuriev and Semen Chudin meant that the programme was a shadow of what it should have been, and disappointingly short and unbalanced for the audience. Nevertheless, the performances by Sergei Polunin - catch him while you can! - and Daniel Proietto make this an unmissable event.

What To See: February

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Category: What To See

Published: Thursday, 26 January 2012 14:22

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

The start of February is dominated by British Dance Edition, which is great news if you're a dance promoter or producer and have signed up as a delegate, as you'll be treated to performances from many of this country's leading companies. For the rest of us, only three of the performances are open to the public, but there's still plenty to enjoy. At the end of the month, we have the award-winning Ballet Black, presenting a new programme filled with works by exciting choreographers.


British Dance Edition

2 February: Wayne McGregor | Random Dance: Far, Candoco Dance Company: Set & Reset/Reset, Hofesh Shechter Dance Company: The Art of Not Looking Back
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Wayne-McGregor-Random-Dance-Candoco-Dance-Company-Hofesh-Shechter-Company

This triple bill opens with Wayne McGregor's 2010 work for his company, followed by a performance by Candoco Dance Company of Trisha Brown's 1983 work Set & Reset and its 2011 restaging, Reset. Candoco Dance Company is one of this country's leading integrated dance companies, and recently celebrated its 20th birthday to critical acclaim. The Art of Not Looking Back is a work created by Hofesh Shechter for his company's female dancers.


4 February: Richard Alston Dance Company / National Dance Company Wales
Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre
Tickets & details: ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/dance-performance/tickets/richard-alston-dance-company-and-national-dance-company-wales-62943

This double bill features erstwhile favourites Richard Alston Dance Company presenting Alston's latest work, Unfinished Business, alongside a rare London appearance by National Dance Company of Wales performing By Singing Light by Stephen Petronio using Dylan Thomas's poetry. The performance will be accompanied by the BBC National Chorus of Wales.


5 February: Russell Maliphant, The Rodin Project
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Russell-Maliphant-Company

Following the award-winning Afterlight, The Rodin Project is Russell Maliphant's latest work, inspired by the creations of French sculptor Auguste Rodin; dancers include Tommy Franzén. More information will probably be available after The Rodin Project's premiere in Paris on 31 January.


Sadler's Wells

29 February - 1 March: Richard Alston Dance Company
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Richard-Alston-Triple-Bill

Two much-loved pieces feature on this triple-bill: Richard Alston's Roughcut, first performed in 1990 and only recently revived, and Martin Lawrance's Lie Of The Land, featuring a breathtaking performance by Andres de Blust-Mommaerts. Completing the triple bill is Alston's latest work, A Ceremony of Carols, accompanied by live choral and harp music.


Royal Opera House

1 - 9 Feb: Song of the Earth / The Dream
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17626

Extra focus has been placed on Frederick Ashton's The Dream, a one-act rendering of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in the wake of the abrupt departure of Sergei Polunin, scheduled to perform as Oberon in three of the six performances. No replacement has been scheduled as yet, but rumours suggest that Steven McRae, recent recipient of the Critics' Circle Best Male Dancer Award, will be taking over this role.

Song of the Earth is one of Kenneth MacMillan's best-loved one-act ballets, and is a poignant meditation on Death and two lovers, set to Mahler's song-cycle and drawing on the source Chinese poems for artistic inspiration.


29 Feb - 6 March: Ballet Black
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17971

Ballet Black are a leading award-winning modern ballet company, and their latest programme follows on from their tenth anniversary tour of last year. Featuring new works by Jonathan Goddard (Rambert Dance Company), Christopher Hampson (soon-to-be Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet), Jonathan Watkins (Royal Ballet) and Martin Lawrance (Richard Alston Dance Company), this will be an exciting programme with plenty to savour and enjoy.


Worth Catching

until 17 February: Resolution!
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/634/whats-on/listings.html

Resolution, The Place's platform for new choreography (and new choreographers) continues till 17 February, and the final night always has a special feel about it. Although everyone has differing opinions about who to see, and ALL of the companies want YOU to see them, our picks are:

7 February: James Loffler
James Loffler has danced for National Youth Ballet, Michael Clark and Ballet Ireland, which could lead to some interesting influences on him; he created a very impressive piece for a Ballet Ireland choreographic session last year (described as 'absolutely fab'), so we're looking forward to seeing him!

17 February: Yuyu Rau
Yuyu Rau has been extremely busy recently as an associate artist of Step Out Arts, and as one of the dancers in the Pet Shop Boys / Javier De Frutos collaboration The Most Incredible Thing, so her latest work, Beloved Emoh, again fusing contemporary dance with classical Chinese dance, is long-overdue and much-anticipated.

Draft Works

Details

Category: Reviews

Published: Wednesday, 25 January 2012 15:21

Written by Chantal Guevara

Draft Works is the Royal Ballet's annual showcase of its dancers' choreographic talents, and it's an opportunity for its artists and soloists to shine, whether as choreographers or as dancers. It's also an opportunity for the audience to notice artists to watch out for in the year ahead: in last year's Draft Works, Leanne Cope and Thomas Whitehead made the most lasting impressions on the audience; who would stand out this year?

This year's programme, introduced by Royal Ballet's Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor, featured ten new works, some of which had been noticeably influenced by McGregor's signature style, and many of which chose to use baroque music. Choreographically, with the exception of Valentino Zucchetti's classical closing piece, the works ranged from modern ballet to contemporary dance. Also featured were three guest choreographers, Robert Binet, Declan Whitaker and Simon Rice.


The opening work, At The River Styx, by Royal Ballet choreographic apprentice Robert Binet, was inspired by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, and their journey back from the Underworld, and was a modern ballet duet choreographed to baroque music. Yuhui Choe's natural grace made the partnering with Ricardo Cervera all the more compelling, despite the lack of connection between the dancers.


Ludovic Ondiviela's duet for Bennet Gartside and Lauren Cuthbertson was next, and was a very welcome, if long-overdue return to the stage for Cuthbertson following a recent injury. Feathers in Your Head was inspired by people close to Ondiviela with Alzheimers, which added extra intensity to Gartside's and Cuthbertson's performance.

Although the opening sequences were heavily influenced by Wayne McGregor, it was refreshing to see Ondiviela discover his own voice, allowing the piece to develop into non-McGregor territory. If anything, the only complaint about Feathers In Your Head was that it was way too short - it would have been a wonderful treat to watch many more of Ondiviela's ideas.


It was a surprise to see Declan Whitaker appear on the stage of the Linbury Studio due to his youth - according to the programme notes, he's in his first year of training at London Contemporary Dance School, however he made such an impression during Royal Opera House's Dance Futures in July 2011 that he was invited to reprise his solo for this programme.

Overtone was a work about the transformation of water into glaciers, and was again influenced by McGregor, in Whitaker's extensions and line. He showed good use of pauses and phrasing, not falling into the too-easy trap ofover-cluttering his choreography with unnecessary moves. A promising talent.


It's always wonderful to see a new work by Kristen McNally, and Lonesome Gun lived up to expectations as the most theatrical and ambitious piece of the night. McNally had warned the audience that this performance was "the skeleton of a much bigger piece", but even these early ideas were highly entertaining, at times channelling Forsythe's I Don't Believe In outer Space with Hayley Forskitt in Dana Caspersen's role, miming the gravelly voice of the male singers.

One of the highlights of McNally's piece was seeing Thomas Whitehead in a dancing role rather than the character roles we too-often see him in these days - we forget what a wonderful dancer he is!

Lonesome Gun reminds us of why McNally is one of the most original voices to emerge from the Royal Ballet, and why we should look forward to any more works she creates!


Thomas Whitehead's i lean & bob opened humorously, with both Sian Murphy and Ryoichi Hirano seated in the audience; Hirano started drumming on the stage before both he and Murphy wrestled their way onto the stage. What followed was a stylised, comic and wholly entertaining duet, with echoes of Roger Rabbit, So You Think You Can Dance and much playing to the audience. Ballet is rarely this hilarious outside of the Trocks, and it's great to find such a great choreographic talent in Thomas Whitehead. Definitely worth watching again and again - if you can get a ticket!


Simon Rice's Grace was a rare work of contemporary dance in the programme, and it was interesting to see the contrast in gracefulness between contemporary dance and the other ballet works of the evening. Rice's dancers all displayed a fluidity rare to ballet dancers, and which was only hinted at in Declan's piece.

Grace could be developed much further: much of its choreography was simplistic, relying on the gracefulness and fluidity of the dancers to transform it into something more. As one of the longer pieces of the evening, it would have delighted the contemporary dance fans in the audience but would have been unlikely to win any new fans for the genre.


It had been a huge surprise to see Tamara Rojo in the programme as one of the choreographers, and her duet Into The Woods explored the changing dynamics between Camille Bracher and José Martín. There were many interesting touches and dramatic gestures, displaying a strong theatrical sense and confidence in her choreographic ability. Maybe we can hope to see Rojo explore more choreography in future, and join the ranks of the Royal Ballet's other choreographers?


Even though all of the works performed were unfinished, they were still very interesting and enjoyable to watch, and of significantly higher quality than one would expect for works in progress. The highlights of the evening were discovering the choreographic talents of Thomas Whitehead and Tamara Rojo, and Bennet Gartside and Lauren Cuthbertson in Ludovic Ondiviela's duet - amid the other gems created by their colleagues.
 

Weekly Roundup: 23 January

Details

Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 23 January 2012 00:01

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

This week sees the start of the new Sadler's Wells season, with a celebration of male dancers, and alongside the ongoing platform of new choreography at The Place, Resolution!, the Royal Ballet are showing their own platform of new choreography by their own dancers, Draft Works. And the good thing is, you don't even have to be a fan of ballet to enjoy it!


24 - 26 January: Draft Works
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17839

This is the annual platform for the Royal Ballet to showcase the work of its dancers, usually giving the audience a rare opportunity to appreciate the less senior dancers in the company as they take starring roles. While the results are varied, there will be a mixture of classical ballet, modern ballet and contemporary dance, all of it performed by some of this country's finest dancers. This lineup features works by Tamara Rojo and Thomas Whitehead, and the tickets are only £10.50 (£6.50 concs) - go see this if you can, and reschedule your plans if need be.


29 January - Ivan Putrov: Men In Motion
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Ivan-Putrov-Men-in-Motion

It seems that when certain principal dancers leave the Royal Ballet, they turn their talents to presenting galas and similar events, and Ivan Putrov is no different. Having left the Royal Ballet in 2010 to pursue his collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys and Javier De Frutos on The Most Incredible Thing, Men In Motion is a celebration of male dancers, featuring leading dancers from the Royal Ballet, Mariinsky and Bolshoi Ballets and English National Ballet, performing works from the past 100 years.

For the non-ballet fans, the award-winning Daniel Proietto will be performing his breathtaking solo from Russell Maliphant's Afterlight yet again - which is easily worth the price of the ticket on its own.


Worth Catching

23 January at 12.30pm: National Dance Awards
Details: www.criticscircle.org.uk/dance/?ID=241

Unlike the music, theatre and film industries, the dance industry doesn't receive a whole lot of recognition, so these are the main annual awards we have to look forward to.

Sadly, the modern and classical dancers have been lumped into the same category, so we can only hope that ALL of the male and female dancers jointly win the Best Dancer awards.


25 January: Resolution!
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/11672/whats-on/nylon-theatre-the-mynewt-project-yukiko-masui.html

We've heard good things about this evening, so we can only hope it'll be a good one! Yukiko Masui's past works have apparently been beautiful, while Alex Newton of The MyNewt Project has worked with English Youth Ballet, Will Tuckett (Royal Ballet), David Bintley (Birmingham Royal Ballet) and Mavin Khoo, so we're expecting good things from him.

Resolution! - 21 January

Details

Category: Reviews

Published: Sunday, 22 January 2012 18:17

Written by Chantal Guevara

This week's Time Out describes Resolution as "a bit of a lucky dip, to be honest, ranging from painfully studenty to surprisingly assured": last night was definitely one of the better nights of the current Resolution season - which was only to be expected with Gwyn Emberton Dance and Lîla Dance sharing the lineup.

Gwyn Emberton Dance's duet, The Seamless Art of Being, was inspired by the play La Ronde, which Wikipedia describes as a "social commentary on how sexual contact transgresses boundaries of class". But as is all too common with contemporary dance, the subject or theme of a piece is not always evident to an audience, and such was the case with this piece - especially as many people in the audience were without programmes.

The strength of the piece was Emberton's solos, which started out slow and controlled before gaining speed as the piece progressed. Although Johanna Devi's appearance on stage was met by applause from the audience, she seemed to be secondary to Emberton and it would have been interesting to see a more developed role for her. Similarly, the piece's weakest point was the duets between Devi and Emberton, which added little to the overall piece. A similar complaint could be made about the projection, which was an unnecessary distraction from the dancers: given the choice between watching one or the other, I'm hoping that most or all of the audience chose the dancers!

Those points aside, the best parts of The Seamless Art of Being were those danced by Gwyn Emberton, which is just as well as he's a beautiful dancer to watch - and his performance is one of the more enjoyable solos I've watched in some time. And despite the understatedness of his work, this was the best piece of the night.


I haven't seen Lîla Dance's work since their last Cloud Dance Festival performance in December 2009, so I was looking forward to their new work, aware that the company had gone through several changes in the past two years.

The programme notes for A Readiness describe it as an uncertain game in an uncertain relationship, but it quickly became clear that this was an enjoyable work of playful contact improvisation, where the main rules were to remain close or connected to each other; much use was made of Carrie Whitaker's hipbones, whether by Abi Mortimer sighting down them, or simply resting on them.

A Readiness showed how diverse and creative partnering can be, however a lack of change in tempo matched by a lack of change in music made this piece feel overlong. Nevertheless, there were many interesting ideas, and I hope they'll choose to develop this piece further.


The Place usually saves the "best" piece for last, and it certainly would have been difficult for either of the other two companies to follow the impact of Victor Fung Dance's work. Positively Phototactic was a commercial dance piece for six would-be Amazonian women. More slick, dramatic and polished than many Resolution pieces, it was somewhat lacking in substance, which is all too common with commercial dance. It was also not helped by some of his dancers appearing somewhat uncertain about their movements - and the absence of a haze machine, which this piece was crying out for! Nevertheless, it was a huge hit with the audience, and I expect his classes at The Place will be solidly-booked from now on!
 

Recommendations for Spring 2012

Details

Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 16 January 2012 19:25

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

This spring, we're looking to Sadler's Wells to fulfil most of our dance needs, however we really do urge everyone to book tickets to see Liam Scarlett's latest creation for the Royal Ballet - as soon as tickets go on sale on 7 February. British Dance Exchange returns in early February, offering us reminders of who's dominating the UK dance scene with tasters of their work.


Sadler's Wells

6 - 9 March: Nederlands Dans Theater 2
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Nederlands-Dans-Theater-2-Mixed-Bill

Often described as one of the world's best contemporary dance / modern ballet companies, NDT2's dancers are only aged 17 - 23, and yet they can outperform many dancers older than themselves! In fact, in last year's 50th Anniversary Tour, featuring performances by both NDT1 (the main company) and NDT2, the highlight of each night was easily NDT2's. This time, they will be performing one of Jirí Kylián’s best-known works, Gods and Dogs, and a work by the new artistic director of NDT, Paul Lightfoot.

If you only see one dance show this year, make sure it's this one.


26 - 28 April: Scottish Ballet, A Streetcar Named Desire
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Scottish-Ballet-A-Streetcar-Named-Desire

Scottish Ballet's repertoire covers a vast range from the classics to some of the leading contemporary dance choreographers; this is a new adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play, collaborating with theatre and film director Nancy Meckler and international choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to create a powerful infusion of drama and dance.


15 - 19 May: Rambert Dance Company
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Rambert-Dance-Company-LApres-midi-dun-faune-What-Wild-Ecstasy

Rambert's spring programme reminds us of why they're such a well-loved company - not least for reviving Siobhan Davies's Art of Touch, which was last performed at Sadler's Wells in May 2010. Also on this programme is Artistic Director Mark Baldwin's reworking of Nijinsky's L’Après-midi d’un faune, and "a battlefield of relentlessly sparring testosterone" from Itzik Galili, the choreographer who previously created A Linha Curva for Rambert.


Matthew Bourne Retrospective
Early Adventures (21 - 26 May): www.sadlerswells.com/show/Matthew-Bournes-Early-Adventures
Play Without Words (12 Jul - 5 Aug): www.sadlerswells.com/show/Matthew-Bournes-Play-Without-Words

With Matthew Bourne celebrating New Adventures’ 25th anniversary this year, it's all too easy to forget the impact his work has had on the dance industry, from his groundbreaking Swan Lake to his recognisable signature style. This retrospective gives us the opportunity to revisit where he started, with a triple-bill of his earliest works (Spitfire, Town and Country and The Infernal Galop) in May, and his 2002 collaboration with National Theatre, Play Without Words, in July and August.


Royal Opera House

Ongoing until end March: Romeo & Juliet
Tickets & details (returns & day tickets only for most shows): www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17623


When the Royal Ballet decided to take over the O2 last summer, they chose to perform Romeo & Juliet - and now, in the comparatively intimate setting of the Royal Opera House, you can see why, and benefit from the full emotional impact of this much-loved ballet.

Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta performed the lead roles on opening night, and will perform again on 19 January - do what you can to get a ticket! Other performances to catch are Alina Cojocaru & Johan Kobborg (3 & 7 March), Marianela Nuñez & Thiago Soares (13 January) and Lauren Cuthbertson & Sergei Polunin (10 & 22 March)


5 - 23 April: New Scarlett/Polyphonia/New McGregor
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=18146 (tickets on sale from 7 February)

This triple bill celebrates the Royal Ballet's three leading contemporary choreographers, with new commissions from both Wayne McGregor and Liam Scarlett while reviving Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia (2001). Following the astounding Asphodel Meadows, there is much excitement about seeing what Liam Scarlett will create next; the rest of the programme will struggle to compete with his new work!


Barbican & Sadler's Wells

6 June - 9 July: Tanztheater Wuppertal World Cities 2010
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Pina-Bausch-World-Cities-2012

This month-long season of works by Pina Bausch is presented by Sadler’s Wells and the Barbican to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic year’s global focus. Accordingly, each of the 10 works on offer was created following a period of residency in specific cities around the world, reflecting the company's  impressions of their stay. Cities represented in this season range from Budapest to Santiago de Chile and Istanbul.


Various locations

2 - 5 February: British Dance Exchange
Tickets & details: www.britishdanceedition.com/artists/

Over four days, 29 leading companies will be presenting samples of their work at a range of venues across London including Sadler's Wells, Royal Opera House, Laban  Centre and South Bank Centre. Participating companies and choreographers include Ballet Black, Russell Maliphant, Michael Clark Company, Richard Alston Dance Company and National Dance Company Wales. Visit BDE's website for full details.


Palace Theatre

4 February onwards: Singin' In The Rain
Tickets & details: singinintherain.co.uk

Although this isn't exactly a dance show, it stars the wonderful Adam Cooper - loved by many as the original Swan in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, and as the grown-up Billy in the film of Billy Elliot.

This production of Singin' In The Rain has transferred to the West End from Chichester Festival Theatre, where it enjoyed a critically-acclaimed sell-out run.

Weekly Roundup: 16 January

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Category: What To See

Published: Monday, 16 January 2012 00:30

Written by Cloud Dance Festival

Our weekly roundup resumes, however it's a too-quiet week in the world of dance, with only The Place's Resolution! offering daily variety. But at least there's two very good shows to recommend this week....


Royal Ballet, Romeo & Juliet: 19 January
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details (returns & day tickets only): www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17623

There are two final performances of the Royal Ballet's Romeo & Juliet until it resumes in March, and the performance on 19 January features Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta in the lead roles - and possibly Acosta's final performance as Romeo. Expect powerful performances from both, with a fantastic cast of some of this country's finest dancers. Treat yourself.

There is also a performance on 16 January, led by Sarah Lamb and Federico Bonelli.


Resolution!: 21 January
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/11670/whats-on/gwyn-emberton-dance-lila-dance-victor-fung-dance.html

Our pick of the week - and perhaps of the whole Resolution! season - is Saturday's performance, featuring new works by Lîla Dance and Gwyn Emberton Dance.

Lîla Dance have been a creative associate of The Point, Eastleigh for the past few years, impressing audiences and critics alike with their dynamic choreography.

Gwyn Emberton has worked for some of this country's leading companies and choreographers, including Akram Khan, Jasmin Vardimon, Matthew Bourne, Yorke Dance Project and Scottish Dance Theatre; his taster clip from a previous work promises high-paced physical work in this new duet.

Also performing on the night is Victor Fung Dance, NOT to be confused with the American ballroom dancing champion!


Worth Seeing


From Street to Stage: An Evening with Thiago Soares: 19 January
2 Temple Place, London WC2R 3BD
Tickets & details: streettostage.eventbrite.co.uk

If you are feeling benevolent, Royal Ballet principals (and newlyweds) Thiago Soares and Marianela Nuñez are holding a fundraiser for Street Kids, featuring artwork by William Morris and tango-ballet fusion performances. All proceeds go directly towards Street Kids (tickets cost £50).


Resolution!: 19 January
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/11668/whats-on/giorgio-de-carolis-elena-zaino-non-applicable-dance-collective-matthew-huy.html

If you'd like to see more Resolution! performances, we'd recommend Giorgio de Carolis & Elena Zaino: Zaino is one of Henri Oguike's dancers while de Carolis is in Motionhouse Dance Theatre - we can't help but expect great things from their collaboration!