Opera Ballet Vlaanderen are a high energy, adventurous troupe. In recent years they have become noticeably more contemporary, bolder with repertoire choices and more daring in the delivery of the ever more challenging demands on the body.
In Kirsten Wicklund’s Field, a new creation for the company this season, they are stretched on all fronts, not just technically but in the psychological focus that enables the dancers to transmit thoughts and emotions clearly in the absence of any narrative. This is a work that has no obvious theme – described in the programme as the border between the known and the unknown – but seemingly drifts from mood to situation, with changes in tempi, sound and shape and while it does not incite exhilaration, there is an ongoing sense of breaking boundaries. And it’s an intense experience for us as well as the dancers.
Wicklund is a former dancer with the company, only leaving last season to take up her position as artistic director of Ballet Edmonton in Canada. She knows how far to push her cast, and push she does. It was unclear why the audience entered the auditorium with a dancer on stage (Towa Iwase), already fully engaged in movement that was vigorous, if somewhat unstructured.
She was joined by Shane Urton and for some 15 minutes they proceeded to move in jerky passages, sometimes forceful, sometimes moving around each other in the same space, but not touching. It must have been hard work for them as the audience continued to chatter and search for their seats. Without musical accompaniment but a low rasping sound (or did I imagine it?), these excellent dancers extended themselves, but to what end?
As more dancers entered the stage, the piece started properly and patterns began evolving. The electronic soundscape was supplanted by a quartet (members of the OBV Symphony Orchestra) and as they played Shostakovich’s String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, the dancing came to life. As dancers reappeared in interesting costumes (Irina Shaposhnikova) with dark satin coiled around limbs, the mood became more vital. At one point, two men were in conflict – not overtly displayed but the slightly jarring head movements implied anger and a necessity to assert themselves.
As the musicians retreated, violinist Lin Mu walked to the back of the stage to play the Melodia from Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin, a distinctive and mellow accompaniment to a duet for David Ledger and Allison McGuire. If the inspiration and motivation for the work was rather blurred, it was nevertheless pushed along by the sheer brilliance of the dancers. It was a bold main-stage choreographic debut for Wicklund, which indicates plenty of potential and an innovative mindset.
We returned after the interval for Ohad Naharin’s hugely entertaining Minus 16 and another dancer was putting himself through his paces while the lights were still up, much to the amusement of his captive audience. Minus 16 is a combination of a number of Naharin’s earlier works and premiered in this iteration in 1999 with Nederlands Dans Theater. It has since been danced all over the world and garners infinite praise and enthusiasm wherever it lands.
Most famously, the early scene where the dancers are seated in a semi-circle around the stage, moving in rippling canon to Echad Mi Yode’a, the audience, as on numerous prior occasions, was immediately transported. As clothes, hats and shoes came off, the dancing became more urgent. There is an extraordinary section where the dancers traversed the stage in a long line and then one dropped out. The dancer continued in a solo passage whilst a voice over told us all about who we were watching. This was repeated with other dancers. I’d forgotten how funny and poignant it was. It felt distinctly personal, and paints the company as a group of diverse and fascinating individuals.
The section that tends to prompt the most hilarity is the point at which the dancers flood out into the auditorium where they choose members of the audience to join them on stage to dance a Cha-cha-cha. This time, there were many willing ‘students’ of all ages, who lapped up the thrill of appearing with the company. As the performance came to a climactic close, with the audience back in their seats and the dancers repeatedly returning for choreographed curtain calls, the theatre was filled with a sense of euphoria. Everyone on their feet, shouting, clapping and revelling in the delight of such a theatrical experience. This is a winner and one that should stay in the repertoire for many generations to come.
Deb's trip was sponsored by Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
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