On Love and Mortality
What’s special about Rudi van Dantzig’s “Romeo and Juliet” is how deeply it is steeped in the textures of popular devotion and everyday life, reminiscent of Flemish painting in its chiaroscuro and crowded humanity.
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World-class review of ballet and dance.
Tonight's little surprise, a small bonus routine, comes in the form of dancer and choreographer Jack Webb's incredible new work “Drawn to Drone,” performed by soloist Christopher Harrison and with a hypnotic soundscape by Webb himself. Using two white chairs only, Harrison enters the space, methodically strips down to underwear and sits on the lined-up chairs, tentatively stretching and contorting his limbs, which seem to move independently of his body. His arms and legs raise up in slow motion, and the focus is entirely concentrated on the geometric shapes he creates. He seems like an astronaut on a space flight simulator, where the chairs are becoming like extensions of his body. It is reminiscent at times of David Bowie in Nicolas Roeg's classic The Man Who Fell to Earth, where the young Bowie sits isolated in a room, an alien in a hostile planet. An intense, mesmerising piece, with almost sci-fi precision, it is impossible to take your eyes off the wonderful Harrison.
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Scottish Ballet in “Sibilo,” choreography by Sophie Laplane. Photograph by Jane Hobson
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What’s special about Rudi van Dantzig’s “Romeo and Juliet” is how deeply it is steeped in the textures of popular devotion and everyday life, reminiscent of Flemish painting in its chiaroscuro and crowded humanity.
PlusWho is David Roussève? Is he a 64-year-old African American dance/theater artist taking to the stage in a solo outing for the first time in 20 years? Check!
PlusFolded forward at the waist, knees pressed together, but with her feet apart, Rachel Coulson assumes bird-like form. With her legs held as if bound at the knees, she travels backwards. Arms extended away from her torso giving the impression of wings, she rotates her hands as if her feathery tips are taking readings of the environment around her. In the conjuring of shapes, of course a waterbird appears before my eyes. This is part two of DanceX, presented by the Australian Ballet, where Stephanie Lake Company’s “Auto Cannibal,” replete with Coulson’s bird-like solo, shares the stage with West Australian...
PlusLimón Dance Company launches its 80th anniversary season with three works that represent the company’s past, present, and future. They not only celebrate José Limón, but demonstrate how his themes guide the company in fresh new ways.
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