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Rambert   Triple Bill:A Linha Curva, Ghost Dances and Goat, 16 Nov 2017 Alhambra

 One of the most memorable shows that I attended in 2017 was Rambert's triple bill at the Alhambra which I saw on Friday 16 Nov.  The company presented three works:

• Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva;
• Christopher Bruce's Ghost Dances; and
• Ben Duke's Goat.

Three very different works and it seemed to me that all had a loose connection with Latin America.

My favourite work of the evening was A Linha Curva.  I had seen it at The Lowry the year before (see Red Hot Rambert 1 Oct 2016).  I loved it then:

"Rambert's party piece on Thursday was A Linha Curva. The stage consisted of percussionists in a box above the dancers. The work began with chants by male dancers in gigantic, reflective metallic collars which was answered by calls and screeches from the women. The stage exploded into a carnival of movement fuelled by the relentless beat of the musicians. The effect was quite hypnotic and the performers' vitality and vivacity were infectious."

I loved it even more the second time round for its colour and energy. I loved the chanting, the screeching and the rhythm. Such a contrast to the other two works which, while beautiful, were much more sobering.

Christopher Bruce created Ghost Dances in 1981 when Leopoldo Galtieri held power in Argentina and Augusto Pinochet.  Both used death squads to remove political opponents.  Spooks who visited opponents in the middle of the night and spirited their victims away.  The faceless skeletons moving to panpipes could easily represent them at one level.  At another level, they could represent the spirits of the dead  in the belief systems of the Andean tribes that had been transposed only imperfectly into the religion of the Conquistadors.   At either level it was a very disturbing work reminding audiences of their mortality and vulnerability.  But at the same time it was also eerily beautiful with elegant jumps. I should like to see it again - but not in a hurry.

The last work was also disturbing.  The "goat" in this piece had two legs not four.  The human goat was chosen for much the same purpose as a scapegoat.  Duke explained in the programme notes:

“In the village where I was brought up there was a tradition on New Year’s Eve of writing on a piece of paper two things you wanted to rid yourself of – it could be something bad that had happened to you, or something bad that you had done. The pieces of paper were placed inside a can which was tied to the tail of a goat. The goat was supposed to disappear over the horizon and take our sins with it. Usually it ran for five seconds or so then stopped to eat some grass. Some years it came running back towards us…” 

There was a lot going on in this work. A running commentary from one of the dancers and dialogue from others. Some dance, of course, and a lot of singing on stage.  According to Ben Duke's YouTube clip, rehearsals started immediately after the London Bridge terror outrage. It is in thus a commentary on the role of art in the politics of the times.

Not exactly a laugh a minute but life is brief for all and insecure for many and it does no harm occasionally to be reminded of that.

The Phoenix Soars Over London

Phoenix Dance Theatre, Mixed Programme, Linbury Studio Theatre, London 12 Nov 2015

It should never be forgotten that there are two great dance companies at Quarry Hill in Leeds. My beloved Northern Ballet, of course, but also Phoenix Dance Theatre which started in Leeds and remains rooted in that city.  It is entirely fitting that Phoenix's artistic director, Sharon Watson, should chair the committee that will coordinate the city's bid to become the European Capital of Culture for 2023. If anyone can bag that prize it is she.

Yesterday she showed her genius in TearFall as part of Phoenix's Mixed Programme at the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House in London. TearFall is a work of art but it also incorporates science. One of the disadvantages of our English, Welsh and Northern Irish Systems (but not so much the Scottish one) is that our schoolchildren are required to focus their studies on three arts or science "A" levels from age 16. The result is that we have educated several generations of science graduates with an incomplete knowledge of history, social sciences, the arts and literature but also several generations of arts graduates with only the scantiest understanding of basic science. C. P. Snow discussed that phenomenon in the Two Cultures as long ago as 1956. As Sharon Watson explains in Rehearsals: Revealed - TearFall - Sharon Watson she collaborated with Professor Sir John Holman of the University of York in creating Tear Fall. There are shots in the video of Sir John in a seminar with the choreographer and dancers and also sitting with them on the floor in a rehearsal studio. The work is supported by the Wellcome Trust which usually funds pharmacology and healthcare. It is great to see that it is also funding the performing arts.

The performance began with a short monologue by Prentice Whitlow on the function and composition of tears. Having began his topic quite clinically he discussed tears as a vehicle for conveying emotion and that, of course, was the topic explored by the dancers. Even without props the choreography would have been sufficiently expressive but Yaron Abulafia's lighting with little bulbs symbolizing individual tears complementing the pearl coloured helium balloons focussed the audience's thoughts (or at least mine) on the things that had caused them pain.  I shed many tears this week having been forced to end a friendship that has lasted for 6 years and it has almost been a bereavement.  Kristian Steffes's music also spoke to me, especially the sound of sobbing.  For so many reasons, I felt TearFall had my name on it and I am very glad that Sharon Watson and her dancers have produced this work and that I saw it when I did.

TearFall was one of three brilliant works and my focus on that work has meant that I have not done sufficient justice to Itzik Galili's Until.WithOut.Enough and Caroline Finn's Bloom. These are two very different works as you can see from Rehearsals: Revealed - Until.With/Out.Enough and Rehearsals: Revealed - Bloom - Caroline Finn and suit different moods.  The first is sombre while the last is comic though not without a bitter sweet twist.  I think Sharon Watson had a reason for inserting her work which deals with pleasant as well as painful emotions between them. I loved the music for both - Gorecki for Galili's work and some very clever lyrics in Bloom.  I shall see this programme in Huddersfield on 26 Nov 2015 and I will focus on them properly then.

Phoenix has never forgotten where and how it started and it works closely with local schools and community groups in Leeds.  If you look at its twitter stream you will see that it has not taken a rest in London. It has led workshops in the capital too. It is the nearest thing we have in Yorkshire to a national treasure.  On the steps leading down to the Linbury we were handed leaflets inviting us to support the company. I urge all my readers to do so.