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I was fascinated by Fain's approach to the score (which was Ligeti's Piano Concerto), the way she can at times follow the complex rhythmical patternings, the violent explosions of sound which boom out of the quiet pianissimi, the way the spinning patterns of the piano's cadenza-like passage are matched by a helter-skelter of bubbling movement and the way her dancers seem to treat dance as contemplation of musical score. Fain choregraphed this piece after reading a book by Edward Jones entitled The Known World, which apparently depicts perceptions of slavery and freedom amongst black and white people. Having never read Jones' book (and I must confess not really having the inclination to do so), I cannot tell you how much dance and prose have in common. I can tell you that we see a whole series of pas de deux that range from the intimate and sensual (the use of the collpase/catch motif) to the violent and brutal around which a Greek chorus of dancers wind in and out, observing, but never commenting.
 

It is amazing how much Ligeti proves to be such a succesful dance composer (as we have seen in Christopher Wheeldon's recent Ligeti Tryptich), in spite of his complex, almost a-rhythmical structures. Perhaps as tribute, Sadler's Wells, or some other such venue, should bring together these intelligent dance pieces, as both exploration of his music and exploration of the choreographers who find him so fruitful.