29 Dec 2015
Amber Scott and Ty King-Wall in Christopher Wheeldon's DGV©: Danse à grande vitesse. Photography Kate Longley
The fast-paced yet lyrical abstractions of Christopher Wheeldon (who wrung the hearts of our audiences with his After the Rain© pas de deux); the fluid, organic movement of Jiří Kylián (whose Petite Mort and Sechs Tänze proved their timeless appeal in our 2014 Chroma triple bill); and the groundbreaking, art-form-shaking William Forsythe.
Amber Scott, Lana Jones and Karen Nanasca in Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land. Photography Jeff Busby
Inspired by the Munch painting The Dance of Life, Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land has an unsettling, yearning, striving feeling: the uneasy atmosphere of a storm brewing. Britten’s melancholy Sinfonia da Requiem drives the movement along in tidal surges.
Robyn Hendricks and Kevin Jackson in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. Photography Jeff Busby
William Forsythe’s thrilling ballet has the haughty semi-contemptuous style of catwalk models. A pack of dancers stalk around the stage, pulling out sharp bursts of pyrotechnic dancing and then wandering off insouciantly to the visceral collisions of the electronic score.
Ako Kondo and Chengwu Guo in DGV©: Danse à grande vitesse. Photography Jeff Busby
Christopher Wheeldon’s ode to France’s Very Fast Train, DGV©: Danse à grande vitesse is an abstract work that evokes velocity, technology and the romance of travel, set against a backdrop of fragmented, twisted metal and rocketing along to Michael Nyman’s compelling score.
Ako Kondo and Kevin Jackson in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. Photography Jeff Busby
The relentless, restless, jubilant Nyman score for Wheeldon’s DGV©; the tidal, melancholy strangeness of Britten in Forgotten Land; the exciting assault of Thom Willems’ electronic score for In the Middle Somewhat Elevated.
