Pina Bausch 1940-2009

German choreographer Pina Bausch has died, five days after being diagnosed with cancer.

Bausch was the director of Tanztheater Wuppertal and gained international reknown for her creative redefinition of dance, through bringing an outstandingly avant-garde aesthetic to contemporary ballet. She transformed the language of choreography, and often intrigued the senses with a highly idiosyncratic, stylistic melange of inventive sets, eclectic music and fragmented narratives. Her choregraphic structures were repetitive and haunting, with undertones of violence. She collaborated with film directors Frederic Fellini, Wim Wenders and Pedro Almodovar, whose film Hable con Ella gave wide exposure to her lucid, melancholy work.

Café Muller (used in Hable con Ella):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtqrqjERhkQ

Le Sacre du printemps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXVuVQuMvgA

Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, 'Entity'

Sadlers Wells, 6th June 2009



Transposing dance into words is a challenge, particularly when the dance in question possesses such a staggeringly pure, unbounded, yet precise, vocabulary of movement as ‘Entity’ by Wayne McGregor Random Dance.

Also a Research Fellow in Cognition and Choreography in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, McGregor is fascinated with ‘the technology of the body’: with what he calls the ‘implicit synergy and empathy between cognitive capacity and physical translation’. In exploring this kinaesthetic intelligence McGregor tends to operate a minimalist aesthetic in which the only visual adornments to the dance itself are the stark, but highly evocative, flickering cinematic images that often accompany his pieces. Music tends to be urban, edgy and haunting. McGregor enjoys using the work of new composers, and I always come home wanting to get hold of the music I have discovered at his dances.

In ‘Entity’ the stage, for the most part, is bare and bleached of all colour, and the dancers wear almost nothing. The spectacle is pared right down to focus purely on movement. It is mesmerising. It reminds me of poetic form, in which each word must be vital and meaningful. Every twist and step in this visceral piece is brilliantly communicative and in place. Yet the choreography is far from constricted: as ever McGregor pushes the boundaries to discover new and exciting forms, while the staccato undulations that dominate this piece have clearly become hallmarks of his physical language. Words now fail me. Go and see this piece. Or anything else by McGregor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PRreBNlSuI

For details of Wayne McGregor Random Dance’s tour go to http://www.randomdance.org/tour_dates1

Ondine, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, 3rd June

Ondine excels in the delicacy and exquisite prettiness characteristic of Frederick Ashton, who choreographed it in 1958. It was met with little enthusiasm by its early audiences, even though it was created specifically to showcase the talents of Margot Fonteyn. The score by Hans Werner Hanze was a sticking point, felt to show “little understanding of the needs of classical dancing". I felt it added depth to a ballet which might otherwise be felt as superlatively light.

This production by the Royal Ballet, using the orginal, whimsical set and costume designs of Lila de Nobili, is an enchanting revival, and unlike the luke-warm spectators of the fifties, I was thoroughly captivated. The ballet conjures a dreamy, elusive oceanic world. Miyako Yoshida as Ondine is breathtakingly fleet, light and precise. Together she and the dashing Edward Watson (as Prince Palemon) perfectly capture the capricious mood of this piece in their duets. There could be no more fantastic fluidity to a dance. Brilliant choreographic formations for the corps evoke the waves that surround the couple. On board the ship simple arabesques swaying from side to side establish the undulations of the wave-tossed vessel. Lila de Nobili’s costumes are gauzy, floaty and dazzling, and after the muted, drab tones of costumes in recent Royal Ballet productions, such as Manon, and Dido and Aneas (the collaboration with the Royal Opera), it was wonderful to be treated to the sensual indulgence of gorgeous garments.

I saw this performance broadcast at the Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford, as it was screened live to cinemas across the country. Initially nervous at being at the mercy of the cameraman, I found to my pleasure that this was actually an excellent way to view a production. I missed no details, only the unique atmosphere of being in the physical presence of the dancers and the live music. Projecting dance onto a big screen is a wonderful idea, and in some ways the magnified image enhanced the thrill.

Richard Alston Dance Company

Richard Alston Dance Company, Triple Bill at the Oxford Playhouse: ‘Blow Over’ by Richard Alston, ‘Movements by Petrushka’, by Richard Alston, & ‘To Dance and Skylark’, by Martin Lawrence, 28th & 29th May, 2009

The Richard Alston Dance Company is known for its abstract, muted and thoughtful vein of contemporary dance. Yet I thought much of the choreography in this triple bill looked tired and bland, and the exuberance of the dancers seemed to outshine the steps created for them.

Not that it was a programme lacking in verve and fun. Alston’s first dance ‘Blow Over’ is set to the blaring, camp vocals of the little-heard ‘Songs from Liquid Days’ by Philip Glass, to which dancers strut lively, humorous routines that would almost have been witty if they hadn’t looked quite so conventional.

Alston’s ‘Movements by Petrushka’ is a significantly more sensitive and expressive piece, depicting the suffering of the puppet Petrushka, as an allegory of the emotional breakdown of the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, who created the role in Diaghilev’s original ballet. The second movement of the dance evokes the mental anguish of the puppet with brilliant, torturous physicality. The lithe Pierre Tapon dances this deft, sinuous, painfully expressive sequence with beautiful delicacy and intensity. The first and third movements of the dance, centred upon revelling crowd scenes, seem lumpy and cluttered by contrast. The live piano, playing Stravinsky onstage, is captivating throughout and augments the emotional impact of the piece.

The final dance ‘To Dance and Skylark’, by Martin Lawrence showcases purely vital, well-articulated, joyous choreography that brings out wonderfully the passion and glee of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and undoubtedly shows the dancers at their best. As they soar across the stage with pleasing finesse we are finally treated to group dances that appear intricate and exacting, without compromising on fun.

Alston is frequently described as one of Britain’s foremost dancemakers, yet his choreography certainly pushes no boundaries, nor does it compensate with anything like exquisite use of his preferred traditional idiom.

The dancers are clearly skilled, and performed very well, which I’m afraid left me feeling that what holds the Richard Alston Dance Company back from really being an exciting ensemble is Richard Alston.

The Richard Alston Company will perform a different programme: Alert / Serene Beneath / Blow Over / Brink at The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre, London on 16^th & 17^th June, 2009.

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