If it’s not broken, then don’t fix it seems to be a settled motto for Russell Maliphant. Two of the three works in this programme, formed their own double bill, performed twice last year at The Coronet Theatre, the reimagined and restored Grade 2 listed theatre in London’s Notting Hill. Maliphant’s vintage work, Two, has been added to increase the nostalgia quotient and make a slightly longer bill (plus provide an interval) for this transfer to the much larger space at Sadler’s Wells East.
To be frank, I think that this programme of three solos suited the quirky intimacy of The Coronet rather better than it did this vast stage. Nonetheless, the quality of the choreography and the excellence of the three performers still made for a tremendous evening of familiar and much-loved dance.
The two works carried over from The Coronet were switched in their running order with Daniel Proietto opening the programme in Afterlight, for which he won the National Dance Award for Outstanding Modern Performance as long ago as 2010. Sixteen years later, the work still seems as fresh and vital as ever, and it is one of those rare pieces that I cannot imagine being danced by anyone else.
Maliphant created the piece for the In the Spirit of Diaghilev programme, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells to celebrate the centenary of the Ballets Russes, by choosing to make a solo as an elegy to Nijinsky, created after close investigation of contemporary photographs of the legendary dancer. Fleeting imagery of Nijinsky’s greatest roles are engraved into the choreography.
The four sections in fifteen minutes accord with Erik Satie’s Gnossiennes 1-4 (performed by Dustin Gledhill), and one enhanced aspect through this staging is that the impact of Michael Hulls’ extraordinary moving, mottled lighting design is even greater on this broad stage, when viewed from above. Animation within the downward lighting sent pools of variegated patterns seeping out across the stage and then retracting. There are many times when the lighting gave the floor a three-dimensional quality, and one felt that Proietto could be sucked into a void.
Proietto spins uniquely, opening the work by turning slowly and fluidly. It seemed that he must be standing on a rotating platform, an illusion that is also emphasised by lighting that turns in time with Proietto’s silky-smooth movements. His unremarkable loose clothing and beany hat has been deliberately designed by Stevie Stewart to not interfere with the lighting effect.
The programme’s mid-section introduced Alina Cojocaru to the company, performing Two, which dates to 1997 when it was made on Dana Fouras. It has since become a rite of passage for the great and the good of the ballet world and, although Fouras remains the authentic interpreter, it has been danced by Sylvie Guillem, Carlos Acosta and Roberto Bolle amongst others: it also spawned a duet entitled Two x Two.
Andy Cowton’s sonar-bouncing music and Michael Hulls’ lighting are key ingredients in the creative excellence of a work that features the dancer trapped in a box of light, an early example of Maliphant’s fascination with the interaction of light and moving bodies. The quality of Cojocaru’s movement was evident, even in the semi-darkness, but the height of the lighting above the stage made that crucial interaction within and outside of the light less crisp than it should have been. I’d love to see Cojocaru have another go at this vintage work in a more intimate venue.
In A Landscape is the latest collaboration between Maliphant and Athenian video and light artist, Panagiotis Tomaras. It opened with Maliphant holding a series of consecutive poses, each prepared in darkness and revealed like a slideshow of photographic studies of ancient Greek statues. Maliphant routinely danced alongside silhouettes of himself, and again this impact was less intimate than when seen at The Coronet.
Maliphant wore a grey boiler suit (something akin to a prison uniform) and material is key to this work with his sculptured movement contrasting with rolls of fabric, in similar grey hues, hanging (and dropping) from above the stage space. One assumes that they form the landscape referenced in the title.
The work seemed to have been extended with more movement material for Maliphant (there is a longer floor-based section than I recall) and his physicality is fascinating, robust and powerful but with soft, fluid movements. Like Maliphant (her creative and life partner), Fouras is a richly talented, multi-disciplinary artist and her electronic soundscape is a perfect accompaniment to this enigmatic performance art.
Despite some minor reservations about the suitability of the venue to the work, this version of Maliphant’s Greatest Hits (and there could be several others), performed by three of the most outstanding and experienced dancers on the planet, was a delight.
