Having retired as a dancer from Scottish Ballet in 2017, artist-in-residence choreographer Sophie Laplane always delights in anything she turns...
It is no coincidence that the huge unruly piles of trainers and pumps littering the stage are mostly the Adidas brand, as Uri Ivgi and Johan Greben's new piece for Scottish Ballet casts an unblinking eye over exploitation, and such global brands have faced accusations in recent years of forced labour and poor working conditions, often involving young children.
The finest choreographers have not only a signature style, but walk their own creative paths—think Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Crystal...
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s death. To celebrate the life and work of the internationally renowned choreographer and former Royal Ballet director, the UK’s leading ballet companies joined together to perform a season of MacMillan’s work.
On the back of a US tour of Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s imaginative reworking of “A Streetcar Named Desire” comes another bold showing from Scottish Ballet: a double bill with works from Crystal Pite and Angelin Preljoçaj. It’s an edgy turn for the company, and some slick, focused displays of dance arise from it, particularly in Pite’s “Emergence,” created in 2009 for National Ballet of Canada and acquired by Scottish Ballet last year.
On the surface, these two ballets could not be more contrasting. Yet, what thematically links them is the iconoclastic approach of both Sir Kenneth MacMillan's choreography (this production marks twenty five years of his passing) and the bold invention of Scottish Ballet's own Artistic Director Christopher Hampson—not to mention, of course, the “The Rite Of Spring's” notorious first Parisian performance in 1913, which caused riots.
