 |
   |
RosasOctober 2002 London, Sadler's Wells by Lynette Halewood |
|||||||
|
The Jerwood Foundation’s support for the proms season at Sadlers Wells seems to have been resoundingly successful: performances by both Richard Alston’s company and Rosas at Sadlers Wells (a larger venue in London than they are generally accustomed to) were packed and the promenade area at the front of the stalls was heaving (standing tickets were only five pounds). It looked as if the organisers had finally found the younger audience that they are always looking for. Rosas got a tremendous reception, more rapturous given other distinguished visitors this year such as Merce Cunningham or White Oak, with large numbers getting out of their seats to applaud. It was a remarkable achievement, because on the face of it, a single work of seventy minutes in length with no interval, set to a recoding of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, doesn’t sound that user-friendly. How does a choreographer sustain interest for that time, given that the music’s repetitive nature ? Somehow Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker manages this. She is ably served by a team of three male and seven female dancers whose unflagging, energy, commitment and drive power them through some remorselessly energetic moves. At times there were some slight echoes of the influence of Kylian in this, for example when a line of dancers crosses the stage with one or two dropping out part way. But for the most part the dance language looked quite distinctive, very studied and honed, and quite distinctive in its approach. Movement seems at times very simple and natural – hardly danced at all, as dancers run about from side to side, and gather in loose groupings, like kids in a playground, or simply walk round and round. But this is intercut with fiercely physical and daring bursts of energy as dancers lifts each other, then drop to the floor, roll, leap, and jump again. The men are particularly impressive and astonishingly tireless. Most of the dancers are onstage most of the time – they occasionally disappear for a costume change but are seldom absent for long. But when one woman and two men are alone for a short while there is a powerful interaction between the three, shot through with a strength of emotion that rarely colours the work again. Some moments are pleasing in their simplicity: the group simply forms in a line and walks in a line, sweeping the stage like the second hand of a watch with he dancers gently weaving in and out of different position. Somehow the invention doesn’t flag, and there is always a new twist to see, and the music becomes hypnotic in its repetitions. The dance space is suffused by different colours as de Keersmaeker finds some slight rhythmic or melodic shift in the music to change the emphasis slightly – at one point it glows a brilliant pink, and the dancers switch clothes to pick up on the colour shifts. The work ends in a blaze of white and gold. The design is simple but pleasing – the dance space is made circular by a curved rail at the back from which hangs a string curtain, and an extension of the space in a curve over the stalls. This area is marked out by lines in various colours and stripes, reminding me oddly of the various odd markings on runways at airports which are obviously there for a purpose, even if it’s not always clear what. The dancers occasionally observe the lines on the floor as something to line up along or wait behind – there’s lots of lines and lining up in the piece, but not always connecting to those laid out on the floors. At the end the dancers run off behind the semi circle of strings, left rippling behind them.
The audience adored it, and I’ve seldom seen such a positive response. Rosas are currently touring the UK with a different work (Drumming). Definitely worth a look.
|
||||||||
|
 |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
