Rambert: Death Trap, contemporary dance theatre rarely done so well

Jonathan Wade and Angélique Blasco in Ben Duke's Cerberus

Joseph Kudra, Archie White, Simone Damberg Würtz and Conor Kerrigan in Ben Duke's Cerberus

Rambert dancers in Ben Duke's Goat

By Graham Watts, 24 November 2023

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“His humour has a Marmite touch”

Reviewed at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London on 22 November 2023

Cerberus (Ben Duke)

Goat (Ben Duke)

Rambert

Benoit Swan Pouffer, Director

Aishwarya Raut, Dancer

Antonello Sangirardi, Dancer

Alex Soulliere, Dancer

Angélique Blasco, Dancer

Jonathan Wade, Dancer

Joseph Kudra, Dancer

Sheree Dubois, Vocals

Romarna Campbell, Drums

Caroline Jaya-Ratnam, Piano

Dave Manington, Guitar

Lost Dog in Ben Duke’s Ruination: essential viewing

Amanda Jennings, 4th December

Exceptional, witty performances combined with superb choreography and script make Ben Duke's take on the Medea myth unmissable.

****1

A diverse and entertaining triple bill from Rambert

Graham Watts, 18th May

Rambert presents an excellent cohort of expressive dancers, but the programme lacked an overall wow factor.

***11

Lost Dog's alternative Juliet & Romeo

Audrey Lemarchand, 13th April

Clever in its concept, witty in its development, precise in its interpretation, refreshingly universal and accessible.

*****

Romeo and Juliet but not as we know it

Philippa Newis, 27th February

Choreographer Ben Duke offers a candid glimpse of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers if they had survived the gauntlet of death draughts and daggers.

*****

Ben Duke's excellent Paradise Lost

Emily Brown, 15th October

Ben Duke takes on the role of a lifetime, playing God in his stunning one-man reimagining of Milton's Paradise Lost.

*****

Handspring Puppet Company's Crow

Erin Johnson, 26th June

Haunting scenes and brooding prose make Handspring Puppet Company’s Crow a shadowy addition to this year’s Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. Layered with dark imagery, Handspring, in collaboration with Ben Duke’s Lost Dog dance company, presents a winding take on Ted Hughes’ Crow, splicing his poetry with movement and intricate puppet representations of the crow.

***11

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Graham Watts

Graham Watts is a freelance dance writer and critic writing regularly for Dancing Times, Dance Europe, Danza Europa, and many more publications. He regularly writes features for Sadler’s Wells, London Coliseum and La Scala. Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle in the United Kingdom and of the UK National Dance Awards he has interviewed many of the greatest names in dance including Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Boris Eifman, Alexei Ratmansky, Andris Liepa, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley and Dame Gillian Lynne. When not involved in dance Graham is a keen fencer, and has captained the British Sabre team.