"6000 Miles Away"
Rearray (chor. William Forsythe, mus. David Morrow)
27' 52" (chor. Jirí Kylián, mus. Dirk Haubrich)
Bye (chor. Mats Ek, mus. Ludwig van Beethoven)
I hadn't seen Sylvie Guillem perform live since the end of the 80s, when she was working with the Royal Ballet in London, so when this showed up, it was an opportunity not to be missed. I'm nowhere near as familiar with modern dance as I am with classical, but the choreographers concerned are amongst the most important currently working in the field, names of considerable weight and prominence, so the quality of the work to be presented seemed assured.
By the end of Forsythe's Rearray, I had my doubts. To start with, the two dancers (Guillem and the Italian principal Massimo Murru), were barely visible, the lighting was kept so low. One saw faces, and bare arms, and most of the time the feet, in lighter coloured 'socks', but the dancers' dark tee-shirts and trousers were difficult to pick out of the gloom. The piece is a series of short episodes, most in duet - though there was little true interaction between the dancers - some solos, set to a screeching, repetitive score that seemed disconnected from the austere choreography, with its echoes of barre studies. Guillem's technique, and her extraordinarily limber physique are as impressive as ever, and Murro was no slouch either, but the piece as a whole conveyed nothing to me save a cold and sterile (and eye-straining!) exercise.
Fortunately, that was just the start. The moment 27' 52" started, Kylián's lyrical and sensual style came as a soothing balm. The significance of the 'carpet' escaped me, but didn't bother me, the interaction of Aurélie Cayla and Lukas Timulak (both former or current Nederlands Dans Teater regulars, and therefore familiar with Kylián's work) fluid and poetic. Haubrich's specially created score begins percussive and rhythmic, with moments of respite, before a second section that is more hypnotic and reflective, where the Mahler on which it is based becomes more apparent, and Kylián's choreography is its faithful reflection, responsive to every shift of mood.
The Kylián is an older piece, while the Forsythe and the Ek were both created specifically for Guillem last year, and the Ek turned out to be the tour-de-force of the evening. Guillem appears first in video, through a door/portal/screen from behind which she emerges, dressed as a caricature of the dowdiest stereotypical 'librarian' you could imagine, and proceeds to reinvent herself, in an extraordinary, 20-minute solo of huge expressive range. I was asked if I hadn't responded more, and 'better' to this piece because the music meant more to me, and there's probably some truth to that, but if I hadn't felt that the choreography matched the music and used it effectively, I doubt it would have had the impact it did. Ek doesn't cater for beauty of movement, the way both Forsythe and Kylián do, his dancers squat and waddle and stomp around - and when it is done with purpose and power and conviction, and with someone of Guillem's formidable talents, the result is compelling. Bye was an exploration of freedom, of revelation and resignation, inventive and funny and profoundly moving.
[Next: 22nd March]
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