Dance Roundup A/W 2006: Rambert
Alistair Spalding, the chief executive and artistic director of Sadler's Wells, is doing an incredible job of attracting big names to this heavyweight London institution in contemporary dance. From Sylvie Guillem and Dutch National Ballet to Michael Clark and Pina Bausch, Sadler's Wells is the place to catch exciting dance.
Rambert, a Sadler's Wells associate company, presented a performance celebrating its 80th anniversary. Inciting minimal excitement from me (after all, didn't they just throw a big party for its 75th), I was more excited about the fashion designer Roland Mouret's involvement than its birthday celebrations. Anniversary novelty's run a little thin this time round.
Rambert, a Sadler's Wells associate company, presented a performance celebrating its 80th anniversary. Inciting minimal excitement from me (after all, didn't they just throw a big party for its 75th), I was more excited about the fashion designer Roland Mouret's involvement than its birthday celebrations. Anniversary novelty's run a little thin this time round.
Verge© Richard Dean
Image borrowed from Rambert
Mouret's costumes for Verge didn't disappoint. Beautifully cut, each of the eight dancers were clad in different black-clad costumes. These dancers need to move, so certainly no Galaxy dress here. In Verge, Cameron McMillan explored,
With the idea of a major life transition and the experience of change, particularly the inherent conflict of fear and anxiety versus excitement ad anticipation.
His dancers performed to a score plump with a recording of the physical sounds of the dancers (composed by Elspeth Brooke), like a chair dragged across the floor and tapping feet. It's something that's difficult to imagine. When I read the programme, I could not for a minute imagine how it was going to translate on stage. The end result was rather exciting and an artistic collaboration - in music, costume and choreography - I hope to see more of.
Apart from Verge, there were three other parts to the programme: Divine Influence, Lady Into Fox and Stand and Stare. Divine Influence kicked off the evening. Two dancers challenge the constraints of classical ballet, dancing out their frustration.
Lady Into Fox was specially revived from the '40s, with a newly added prologue and epilogue by Mark Baldwin to the original conceived by Andree Howard.
Finally, there was Stand and Stare. Which I thought was disappointing. The piece did not hold together. Having a lot of dancers on stage at the same time can work, but in this case, I thought it failed. Perhaps choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller meant to convey the crowd scenes from Lowry paintings. But I thought it was all at once too chaotic, and the big Lowry prints on canvas hanging from ceiling to floor made matters worse. It was a couragous and ambitious attempt.
Lasting about two and a half hours, including intervals, this was quite a long programme. Rambert should never be missed because its dancers are technically very precise and strong (Angela Towler was astounding demonstrating her strong sense of control over her moves). But this evening never quite climaxed.
Finally, there was Stand and Stare. Which I thought was disappointing. The piece did not hold together. Having a lot of dancers on stage at the same time can work, but in this case, I thought it failed. Perhaps choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller meant to convey the crowd scenes from Lowry paintings. But I thought it was all at once too chaotic, and the big Lowry prints on canvas hanging from ceiling to floor made matters worse. It was a couragous and ambitious attempt.
Lasting about two and a half hours, including intervals, this was quite a long programme. Rambert should never be missed because its dancers are technically very precise and strong (Angela Towler was astounding demonstrating her strong sense of control over her moves). But this evening never quite climaxed.
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