Ballet de Lorraine - Unknown Pleasures

Rambling thoughts about Ballet de Lorraine's Unknown Pleasures (part of Dance Umbrella), a performance of five new works by anonymous choreographers (the music, lighting design and costumes designs are also listed as anonymous).


Is choreography that is a copy of someone else's good enough? And if a famous choreographer just does what we know him/her for, is it interesting?

I loved the 2nd piece, where 17 dancers constantly turn and step into different formations. I instantly thought of Lucinda Childs' work. If it is by her: yeah, I saw a new world premiere by this legend! If it is by someone else: hum nice but not original, since Childs did it all before.

So, wait, am I saying that the work is suddenly less good? I still saw the same performance. It shouldn't be actually: regardless of who choreographed it (Childs included), what we saw was not original. It could be someone copying her style, or herself churning out what we admire in her work.

It shouldn't matter. What matters was the impact we felt, the experience of the moment: those bodies, that music, those steps,

What makes choreography effective, then? What do we value in new choreography? How much does a choreographer's name impact on my appreciation and enjoyment of the work?

Questions I can't answer right now, but boy it was invigorating to go into a theatre not expecting anything, apart from the intuition that it would be good (actually it could have been a total disaster).

Can I ever again lose all my dance baggage when going to see a new work?

Gala Flamenca - Todo Cambia @ Sadler's Wells

Just a quick review of the Gala Flamenca, which closed the Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival last week. I didn't go to any other shows this year as I was a bit underwhelmed with the line-up: Eva Yerbabuena, Rafaela Carrasco, Maria Pages - they're all great artists, yes, but they were all in the festival last year or the year before, and I want to see new faces. (Nuevo Ballet Espanol is not my cup of tea)

So for the new faces I went to the Gala, where three women (Rocio Molina, Belen Lopez and Pastora Galvan) and one man, Manuel Linan, shared the stage and toyed with their tradition.

Rocio Molina opened the show - I loved her in Mujeres, and she is becoming renowned for really looking into flamenco. Coming in wearing a small leather skirt and boots, she tells you straight away that she is here to play with tradition and your expectations of what flamenco can be. She doesn't hide behind big dresses, but at the same time the footwork and the postures are there: she is a great dancer, and there's a particular kick of the shoulder that I really enjoyed. She ends her performance dancing in a small rectangular wooden box, using the sides to increase the sound and possibilities of her footwork, building on the rule that a good flamenco dancer can dance in a really tiny space.

Belen Lopez followed with astounding footwork. She looked very masculine in a white suit (high waisted trousers and jacket), even her arms and hands were that of a man (she didn't use her fingers when turning her hands for example) When she reappeared at the end in a tightly fitted dress and with castanets, I didn't recognise her.

Manuel Linan was also very good. I wasn't sure about him at first, what with the walking stick and all that, but he won me over by the end of his performance.

Finally, Pastora Galvan closed the show. She is the sister of bailaor Israel Galvan, and she went closest to traditional flamenco. Her face was so expressive and intense, it really felt like she had a story to tell us. When she walked backwards in a circle, biting her fist, it made me think of a flamenco version of Giselle's crazy/death scene. She had a great connection with the musicians and singers - it seemed to me like they shouted the most for her. 'Baila Pastoraaaaa'

So it was a great night of flamenco dancing, and I wouldn't mind seeing any of those performers... in next year's festival maybe?

Here is a video of Belen Lopez - what a zapateado!

And here is Pastora Galvan, in a more contemporary style than what I saw. Very influenced by her brother!

Ivana Muller @ Lilian Baylis Studio - review

'In theatre you never know what is going to happen next. Except that there will always be a bow at the end.'

For just over an hour, the six performers in Ivana Muller's Playing Ensemble Again and Again take a bow. The show starts with the end of recorded piece of classical music, and the roar of clapping from an appreciative audience. Moving in slow motion, the performers come out from behind a curtain at the back of the stage: their performance is over, and they are now taking what is theirs - the appreciation, gratitude and support of the audience. They all come out, stand on a straight line, and bow, before going through what we all expect happens in those occasions: they walk down the stage, bow again, hold hands, take a step forward one at a time, the lead performers are singled out, they raise their hands to the back of the auditorium to thank the technical staff etc...

All this happens in slow motion, with the performers speaking their thoughts, making the show funny, touching or insightful. The humour often came from the juxtaposition of the slow movement with their thoughts: as they are all smiling and clapping, they would say 'There was a lot of blood on stage tonight. There even was a real rape', or one bitter performer would look at the lead and say 'Tonight is the first time I am not the lead', suddenly charging his smile with falsehood we hadn't noticed before.

There was also humour in some of the stories themselves: 'Sometimes I dream that I go to the supermarket the morning after a performance, and I get a standing ovation there'.

And there were in-jokes about the theatre/performance world:

- We do not have a costumer designer.
- We were only assigned colours.
- That's why we look like we have just come out of H&M.
- But I like to think that someone in the audience has the same yellow top.

- After the show we have talked to programmers, directors, audience members.
- But mostly it's just the six of us in a corner with no one talking to us.

- To perform here, we have received money from the national fund, the regional fund, the European fund, the theatre fund, the dance fund.
- And tonight you are 178 in the audience and together you have paid £2200
(they all bow)

There were also touching moments (eg: 'Tonight we all had two tickets for the show. I didn't have anyone to invite') and everytime the performers leave the stage and return for another bow, they have aged (though not physically). One of them would say 'We are between 20 and 34 years old', then 'we are between 42 and 50 years old' and finally 'we are between 60 and 80 years old'. So their thoughts would change slightly.

As you can see, I am going on a bit, which is a sign that I really enjoyed this performance. Maybe some characters were not defined enough compared to others though (the former lead with a high self-esteem was great, but it was hard to see what the other characters were so clearly), but this is a very minor issue. I found it funny, moving and very engaging and easy to get into.

Playing Ensemble Again and Again, with its pace and text and with the way it presents something not seen normally (the actual thoughts of a performer/dancer) , reminded me of Jerome Bel's Veronique Doisneau. And it made me think that someone should mix the two: Ivana Muller should create a Playing Ensemble Again and Again with ballet dancers, in a big opera/ballet house. There is so much ceremony to bowing in ballet, what with the flowers, curtain calls etc etc. I think it would be touching, irreverent and funny to have it in slow motion, with the thoughts of the ballet dancers spoken out loud. Imagine having a whole ballet company doing it - all the hierarchy, the history of the place, the stories behind those great performers... I think that would be awesome!

'When the lights go out, you will not see us anymore'.