Dance: Love beyond barriers

Akram Khan’s
Giselle
director-choreography Akram Khan
dancers Elina Takahashi, James Streeter, Ken Saruhashi, Emma Hawes, Fabian Reimair, Angela Wood, Jung ah Choi, Haruhi Otani, Emily Suzuki, Francesca Celicu
composition/sound Vincenzo Lamagna • score Adolphe Adam
visual/costume design Tim Yip • lighting Mark Henderson
Sadler's Wells, London • 18-28.Sep.24 ★★★★

Akram Khan gives the venerable 1841 ballet a vivid 21st century spin, presenting the noblemen as pompous owners lording it over their down-trodden factory workers. This inventive approach offers new resonance to modern audiences living in a world that's still infused with inequality. Khan's visually punchy staging and choreography also keep us entranced, as does the way Vincenzo Lamagna skilfully weaves Adolphe Adam's original score into the rumbling soundscape. There are elements of this production that are so cinematic that they almost undermine the dancers, but this also makes the show both spectacular and darkly moving.

Clever casting adds additional layers of meaning, as the delicate Elina Takahashi takes the title role as a lowly labourer opposite the beefier James Streeter as the wealthy Albrecht, who is slumming it with the merrily dancing workers when he falls for Giselle. But she already has a suitor in the lean Hilarion (Ken Saruhashi). Then Albrecht's kinsmen turn up in their over-the-top, Hunger Games-style finery, and his intended Bathilde (Angela Wood) calls him out, causing a scene during which Giselle's heart fails her. 

All of this is set against a gigantic door that separates the rich from the poor, and it rotates dramatically to allow people to pass between the realms of the haves and have-nots, as well as the living and the dead. The dances are a beautiful blend of classical fluidity, discipline and strength with more modern expressive touches. This includes some striking group moments, breakout solos and duets, and a superb contrast between the way Albrecht and Hilarion move with Giselle, including eye-catching leaps and spins that are joyful, yearning and sexy. And the way the wealthy control their workers is strikingly depicted in their postured physicality, especially as the painful collision between these worlds claims Giselle's life.

The second act is more like a fever dream, following Giselle to the underworld, where she is adopted by Myrtha (Emma Hawes), the queen of the Wilis, who extract revenge on men who drive women to their deaths. Choreography here is more athletic and emotional, as lighting effects create ethereal settings with deep shadows as the large group of Wilis float en pointe with their pointy sticks. This leads to otherworldly encounters between Giselle and Myrtha, Hilarion and Albrecht, offering each performer a chance to shine radiantly. These pieces also play stunningly with shifting weight and balance.

Both choreography and performances bring out the narrative with real emotional power, inventively creating both space and intimacy between the characters. So it's a bit frustrating that some of the bigger visual moments overwhelm the stage, while the long dresses and tunics oddly obscure the dancers' physicality. That said, everything looks fantastic, and the range of jaw-droppingly complex movement and interaction has visceral power. 

for details: ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET > 

photos by Laurent Liotardo • 18.Sep.24

Critical Week: The horse and his boy

I'm definitely enjoying the calm following the storm of awards and festival season, deliberately taking on less. Perhaps this is a way forward permanently! But we'll see how that goes, as I have a couple of events and trips planned over the coming months. Films I saw this week included Jackie Chan's Chinese action comedy Ride On, in which he plays a has-been stuntman whose friendship with his horse leads to a comeback that forces him to confront his age. Yes, there's a lot going on, and it's very engaging, even if the sentimentality gets rather corny. One of the year's best surprises so far, Jon S Baird's new film Tetris chronicles the birth of the iconic video game with another terrific lead role for Taron Egerton.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Joyland • Air • Tetris
Lola • Godland
ALL REVIEWS >

The anime epic Suzume is visually spectacular, and its mind-bending story about an unexpected relationship, childhood memory and parallel worlds is remarkably involving. The Dutch drama El Houb recounts a story about a Moroccan family confronting the eldest son's homosexuality. It's tough and unflinching, and very moving. The British doc Blue Bag Life artfully explores issues of addiction and motherhood from a sometimes startlingly intimate perspective. And the biographical doc Little Richard: I Am Everything is a skilfully assembled portrait of the artist who essentially created rock 'n' roll, then influenced everyone who came after him, from Elvis to Lil Nas X. Does racism and homophobia explain why it took so long for him to get the recognition he deserves?

I also attended the press view at the Design Museum for Ai Weiwei's new exhibition Making Sense, which is another superb provocation about human history, taking a sharp new perspective on everyday objects (review up soon). And I was at the press night for Akram Khan's Jungle Book Reimagined, a visceral take on Kipling's stories about the connection between humans and nature. It's dazzlingly staged with inventive dance, music and projected animation, although the message is a bit overstated (review is already up).

This coming week includes the four-day Easter weekend, and I'll be watching Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult in Renfield, Henry Golding in Assassin Club, Shailene Woodley in To Catch a Killer, Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Teyana Taylor in A Thousand and One and the action thriller Once Upon a Time in Ukraine.

Stage: Animal magnetism

AKRAM KHAN COMPANY
Jungle Book Reimagined
director-choreographer Akram Khan
writer Tariq Jordan with Sharon Clark
dancers Lucia Chocarro, Tom Davis-Dunn, Harry Theadora Foster, Thomasin Gulgec, Max Revell, Matthew Sandiford, Pui Yung Shum, Fukiko Takase, Holly Vallis, Vanessa Vince-Pang, Jan Mikaela Villanueva, Luke Watson
composer Jocelyn Pook • animation Adam Smith, Nick Hillel
sound Gareth Fry • lighting Michael Hulls
Sadler's Wells, London • 4-15.Apr.23

Mixing dance with theatre, this mesmerising physical production takes Rudyard Kipling's classic stories and places them into the near future, redefining both the settings and characters to deliberately add present-day resonance. Akram Khan inventively stirs animation, music and spoken word in with viscerally charged movement to reveal timely themes that carry a powerful punch. So even if the dialog and storytelling are overstated (perhaps to reach a younger audience), it echoes an important message about the connections between humans and nature.

The story is now set when rising sea levels have forced humans to abandon cities, which have been repopulated by animals that have escaped from zoos, circuses and labs. When she falls from a refugee raft, Mowgli washes up in one of these cities and is adopted by a pack of bickering dogs. A human hunter is prowling the landscape, and they need her to help them avoid him. Mowgli also befriends Bagheera, a formerly pampered panther, and ex-dancing bear Baloo. When Mowgli is kidnapped by the Bandar-log, escaped lab monkeys who long to become more human, Bagheera and Baloo turn to the python Kaa to rescue her.

Dressed in red vests and grey harem pants, the dancers become various characters using physical posture, moving in rhythm to their dialog. Khan's demanding choreography is athletic and of course animalistic, mixing acrobatic movement with dance to create a strikingly vibrant atmosphere, shifting through encounters that are tender and violent. Eye-catching and surprising, the scenes feature both individual moments and some particularly gorgeous group numbers. Along the way, some performers emerge as standouts, most notably Thomasin Gulgec's loose-limbed turn as the enthusiastic, warm-hearted Baloo.

A complex audio mix includes music, dialog and media clips, while the on-stage performers are surrounded by strikingly rendered lighting and projection, including animated characters who interact with the dancers. The effect is magical, both dazzling visually and strongly emotional in the way the familiar story emerges from a fresh new angle. This is a beautiful collaboration between a range of talented artists who have found creative ways to work together. So if the voiceover sometimes gets preachy or obvious, there's plenty of beauty to engage with on a variety of levels. And it leaves us with some new thoughts about the impact we have on our planet and how finding common ground is the only hope for a future.

For details, visit SADLER'S WELLS >

photos by Ambra Vernuccio • 5.Apr.23

Stage: Gods and monsters

AKRAM  KHAN COMPANY: CARNIVAL OF SHADOWS
Outwitting the Devil
choreographer Akram Khan
dramaturg Ruth Little
writer Jordan Tannahill
dancers Mythili Prakesh, Luke Jessop, Jasper Narvaez, James Vu Anh Pham, Elpida Skourou, Francois Testory
composer Vincenzo Lamagna
Sadler's Wells • 23-27.Nov.21

There's an intense mythological sensibility to this piece by Akram Kham, which features six dancers with distinct physicalities wrestling with their destiny on a set that feels like an epic arena. It's a vividly involving show that will mean different things to each audience member, evoking a wide range of emotions as the characters grapple with each other. The performances are staggering, blending a range of demanding movement together to often exhilarating effect.

The scene emerges from the darkness, with figures on an empty black stage surrounded by blocks of various sizes. This creates the sense that we're outside time and space, watching gods and goddesses attempting to make sense of their own identities and responsibilities. As the movements evolve, characters begin to emerge. Some people are clearly in control, driving the action and provoking responses. Others are more passive or nurturing. At the centre is a woman who takes on a Mother Earth presence, and the others cower before her.

Performed at full energy by the talented dancers, the movement is absolutely breathtaking, occasionally resolving into glorious tableaux that look like illustrations from an ancient book. And the soundscape is composed by Vincenzo Lamagna to blend music and voice in ways that cut straight into the gut. Created workshop-style, the piece mirrors the saga of the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh, who rescued a goddess, revolted against an overlord and defeated monstrous giants. Indeed, echoes of these legends are woven into the expressive choreography, which features flares of violence, compassion, lust and curiosity.

Like reading a poem or getting lost in an intricate painting, Outwitting the Devil is a piece that needs to wash over the audience without explanation. It's loaded with primal imagery that taps into the subconscious, revealing elements of humanity in strikingly unusual ways. It's also remarkable because of how difficult it is to describe in any real detail. Just see it if you get the chance.

photos by Jean Louis Fernandez • 24.Nov.21

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Young Associates: Mixed Bill

Lilian Baylis Studio, Sadler's Wells • 23-24.Nov.21

Landscape With Flying Man
choreographer-composer Magnus Westwell
movement artists Connor Scott, Konrad Plak, Max Cookward

Magnus Westwell plays with images of masculinity in this gripping and seductively sweaty piece, which features three very fit male dancers with bare chests spinning together and apart in various beams of light. They emerge at the start as a single being, perhaps as the body, mind and spirit of a bird-like man with what becomes an astonishing wingspan. Then they separate and regroup in different formations, working both together and against each other in deliberate, physically demanding movements that are beautifully choreographed and performed. And it's their interaction that creates moving moments along the way.

When Life Gives You Melons
choreographer Vidya Patel
dancers Aishani Ghosh, Tulani Kayanı-Skeef, Nandita Shankardass, Chandenie Gobardhan
composer Sarathy Korwar

Taking on a big theme, Vidya Patel uses an introductory film clip to comment on the issue of infanticide in South Asia, where boy babies are preferred over girls. Then four female dancers appear, pantomiming their daily activities to explore the feelings they are experiencing. As the performance continues, this evolves into increasingly complex choreography, emerging as a celebration of feminine energy, with a climactic view of women as goddesses. The narrative arc is vividly well crafted and played, mixing lyrical movement with clever lighting and sound to offer a powerful final kick.

I Wonder If You Know What I’m Talking About
choreographer Olive Hardy
dancers Annie Edwards, James Olivo
composer Samir Kennedy

There's an engaging loose-limbed feel to this piece, which Olive Hardy sets out as an improvised dance for two people with distinct physicalities. They travel around the stage in ways that feel aimless, only interacting tangentially; the kinetic Edwards uses sharp movements while the much taller Olivo remains rubbery. Each is in possession of some sort of cushion, which they wrestle with in a variety of ways, expressing emotion in unexpected places. It's physically impressive, a fascinating and unpredictable display of dancing skill. But thematically it feels rather opaque. 

This Is Not a Penguin
concept-creation John-William Watson
performers Beth Emmerson, Heather Birley

Taking inspiration from cinema, John-William Watson maintains a wonderfully witty tone in this piece, which has an offbeat narrative that's set in a research station in Antarctica. There a scientist and her shadow pace in circles around a desk and chair, using clever repetition to establish patterns and then break them. They also drop in amusing dance moves, which are performed with deadpan humour and augmented by some very clever shifts in lighting, including superb moments of shadow play. The soundtrack features a terrific variety of audio clips, including snippets from Werner Herzog's wonderfully unhinged Antarctica documentary Encounters at the End of the World.

photos by Camilla Greenwell • 23.Nov.21