Dutch National Ballet has a very strong tradition of bringing modern ballet to its stage. Its director Ted Brandsen dares to programme young choreographers frequently. Tonight is a mix of disparate strong pieces with clear distintive qualities.
Humo Ludens (playing man) is Juanjo Arques' new creation. The dance, music, costumes and stage design are all tightly integrated into a coherent piece of work in which ‘play’ and the ‘game of love’ play a central role. The piece stays clear of the – too often used – overtly sensual elements, to focus more on the playful element as five couples in slithering brown are directed by Cupid. The latter (Young Gyu Choi) storms the stage in a series of classically inspired virtuoso jumps to the flute music of Marc-André Dalbavie (Concert for Flute) played by a fiery Sarah Ouakrat. Choi's opening solo is of the kind you would usually find in the final act of a full length ballet. Ouakrat is put on top of the orchestra pit ‘talking’ directly to Choi connecting the audience to the stage. Choi controls, directs and manipulates the five couples getting them to play when finally the table is turned on him. The use of swings is a nice surprise and the acrobatics of the dancers are thoroughly enjoyable.
In Transit shows people living past each other. Meisner’s style – though clearly influenced by Van Manen and Brandsen – is developing to be more fluid than before, with fast legwork, good transitions and very effective changes of rhythms. The resonant and often beautiful music of Joey Roukens by the same title contains a great xylophone and subtle violin. There's plenty to enjoy here: great duets like Nancy Burer and Sem Sjouke’s side-kicking moves and the one and only really purposefully emotionally connecting duet of Igone de Jongh and Daniel Camargo. This one contrasting pas de deux shows us how the other dancers live disconnected. At one point the corps the ballet drags in the ladies carrying them as objects, suitcases, to be put on the floor: a pretty object, not a person. And the guys are carriers, not individuals. All the dancers wear a shirt with a large photo of themselves. In this age of disdain for family life and exaltation of the shallow individual it is extra painful to see that the one couple that did connect go separate ways. Meisner holds up a mirror.