At the end we begin

Time's Mortal Aspect by Charles van der Stappen

Author Ben2
Licence Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 unported

Source  Wikipedia

Richard Chappell Dance At The End We Begin 6 June 2018, 19:30 Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds


At the end we begin is a 45 minute essay in movement inspired by T S Elliot's Four Quartets.It was performed by four dancers (Iris Borras, Faye Stoeser, Francesco Migliaccio and the choreographer of the work, Richard Chappell) to a score by Samuel Hall. You can get an idea of the show from the trailer.

The poems that inspired Chappell were written between 1936 and 1942 shortly after Elliot had acquired British nationality and converted to Anglicanism. They were written during  one of the darkest periods of modern history, that is to say between the great depression and the second world war.  Having read those poems for the first time only yesterday in order to write this review my impression is of an attempt to make sense of the senseless and comprehend the incomprehensible. Or put another way (and hence the reason for the above photo) a mortals grappling with the concept of eternity.

In a Q & A that followed the performance, Chappell said that he and the dancers had been inspired by the following stanzas:-

PART 1: Burnt Norton

'At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement.' - T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton

PART 2: East Coker

'The knowledge imposes a pattern, and falsifies,
Fort he pattern is new in every moment
And every moment is a new and shocking
Valuation of all we have been.'- T.S. Eliot, East Coker

PART 3: The Dry Salvages

'The river is within us, the sea is all about us;
The sea is the land's edge also, the granite
Into which it reaches, the beaches where it tosses
Its hints of earlier and other creation...' - T.S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages

PART 4: Little Gidding

'We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.'- T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding

The last stanza is probably the key to understanding Chappell's choreography work which does have unity but not necessarily Elliot's four poems which possibly do not.  The impression that I got from the choreography was of a cycle not of an individual but of humanity as a whole. Some of the work was easy to understand - the percussion representing gunfire and the dancers dropping to the ground in The Dry Salvages which was written when the war was not going well.  Other bits were much harder to comprehend and have to be seen more than once to be understood properly.  Some audience members saw things I just couldn't see like rapid circular arm movements representing the hands of a clock.

After the show I introduced myself to Chappell as we had been following each other on Facebook for years.  He asked me whether I had enjoyed the show and I said yes but then I reflected that not all art is meant to be enjoyed.   A better word for challenging works is "appreciated".  I think that is what I should have said.   It was not a beautiful work, or an amusing work or a readily comprehensible work but it was definitely a work worth seeing. 

Richard Chappell Dance to perform in Leeds

TS Eliot

Author Lady Ottoline Morrell.

Source Wikipedia 

For many years I have been begging Richard Chappell to bring one of his shows to the North and he has finally relented.  His company, Richard Chappell Dance, will perform at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds on 6 June 2018.

I first came across Richard's work in 2014 when he was still a student at the Rambert School.  He had been commissioned by David Murley to create Wayward Kinship on the relationship between Thomas Becket and his king - a topic that TS Elliot explored in Murder in the Cathedral and Jean Anouilh in Becket.  In MurleyDance's Autumn Tour 28 Oct 2014 I wrote:

"Chappell's Wayward Kinship was a complete change of mood. Like Gilian Lynne's A Miracle in the Gorbals which I had seen earlier in the day it considered the struggle of the temporal against the spiritual. It explored the friendship between Henry and Becket and its transition into hate with the eventual ridding of the turbulent priest. The knights who carried out the king's bidding were women and all the more sinister for that. The ballet ended with Becket nearing his cross triumphant in death. A remarkable work for any choreographer but all the more impressive for a 19 year old who has only just completed his training at Rambert. No doubt we shall see a lot of Richard Chappell in the years to come."

As Richard and I live and work at opposite ends of England it has mot been easy to catch his shows but David Murley was able to cover one of his performances at Chissenhale Dance Space (see Murley on Chappell 1 March 2015).

Richanrd's show,  At the End We Begin, is described in Northern Ballet's newsletter as "a dynamic and compelling programme". It appears to be another work inspired by T.S. Eliot.   This time it is Four Quartets. According to the company's website the piece takes four individuals "from a place of being lost to a state of empowerment and acceptance, where they have found their own voice by journeying through Eliot's text." The dramaturgy is by Neus Gil Cortes.  Samuel Hall has composed a new score for the work with cello, piano and electronics.  Hannah Taylor has designed the costumes.  The work has already been performed in Oxford, Exeter and Doncaster and will proceed to Frome, Dundee, Newcastle and Falmouth later in the year.

With any luck this will be the first of many visits to Leeds.  Richard writes:

"I love Leeds as a city and it's vibrant dance scene, and if we can sell well for the performance in the coming month, then this could really help me in developing a more regular creative presence in the city in the future."

I wish Richard a successful tour and hope he will include Manchester and other venues in the North West in his tours one day.

Murley on Chappell

RCD - Two Duets Rehearsal Trailer from Richard Chappell on Vimeo.

I was introduced to the work of Richard Chappell by David Murley. David is Artistic Director of MurleyDance which I admire very much. David had commissioned Richard to create Wayward Kinship for his company's Hail Britannia programme which I saw at the Shaw Theatre last October (see MurleyDance's Autumn Tour 28 Oct 2014). Wayward Kinship is about the relationship between King Henry and Thomas Beckett and I was very impressed by the work. I was all the more impressed on learning that its choreographer was not yet 20 and still at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.

Earlier in the day I had attended the Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shadows of War at Sadler's Wells which included Dame Gillian Lynne's re-staging of Sir Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals which I reviewed in A Second Miracle 23 Oct 2015. I noticed many similarities in the two works. One had been created by one of the great names of British dance with over 70 years experience of the stage. The other by a young man at the very beginning of his career.  Seeing Wayward Kinshop stimulated a thirst for Richard's work which I had hoped to slake at the Chisendale Dance Space yesterday.

Alas, it is not possible to be everywhere and see every show. When it became clear that I could not get to London yesterday I asked David to review the show on my behalf. He knows Richard's work better than most.  Here is what he wrote.

IRIS Watch This Space

Reproduced by kind permission of Richard Chappell

All rights reserved

"28 February 2015

Review of: RICHARD CHAPPELL DANCE (RCD) AT CHISENHALE DANCE SPACE AT 19H 30

Tonight concluded Richard Chappell Dance’s (RCD) first UK tour since Chappell himself first graduated from Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in July 2014. At just 20, Chappell is steadily making a name for himself through his work and complex choreography.

First on the programme was a curtain raiser Moments in 360. The piece was beautifully danced by Emma Farnell-Watson and Will Thompson. I immediately praise Farnell-Watson for her mastery of walking on stage. Years of dance training can often make this seemingly simple step one of the hardest things to do. Yet, Farnell-Watson struts and coasts across the stage in a typically everyday gait and seamlessly swings into lighting quick and intricate Chappell movement. Her partner work with Thompson appeared to go off without a hitch. Thompson tossed Farnell-Watson from one sequence of pas de deux to the next. As a partnership, they appeared to push one another to the edge. There were elements of risk in changes of grip from one partnering sequence to the next. No matter how much Thompson flung Farnell-Watson around, he still simultaneously handled her like a Fabergé egg.

Next on the programme came IRIS – a piece about nyctophobia, which is an extreme fear of the dark. Growing up in rural Devon, Chappell was inspired to create this piece because of the pitch-blackness that can occur in the countryside. Dancer Olivia Roach is a force to be reckoned with in this piece. Her understanding of Chappell’s complex and substantial material is masterful. The embodiment of her fear of a dark London alley on stage when being partnered by Kai Tomioka was captivating. Roach not only understood the vast array of emotions Chappell can often throw at his dancers, but she continued to push her character and her performance all the way until the end. To add, as a contemporary dancer, Roach has amazing earth-bound qualities and a great relationship with the floor. Yet, Roach can take flight with no effort or obvious exertion making elegant and beautiful lines. Combing all of these attributes, Roach is a true ballet contemporary dancer. Thank you. 

The final work on the programme was The Vast Rocks. Chappell took inspiration for this piece from the landscape of his native Devon. Chappell’s aim was to transition the performance space into a more rural and calming environment. Firstly, I did enjoy this piece. However, I, personally, did not feel it was a well developed as the first two pieces on the programme. The work was divided into four sections with music by Aaron Martin and accompanied by Anne Chappell’s fantastic poetry. The overall shape of the piece could have been improved with more vocabulary in the movement matching the text in the first two sections. Chappell began to get to find his rhythm in sections three and four. To add, the text, read by Chappell himself, would have been more effective with vocal projection. This piece could really be something engaging and spectacular. I, personally, feel Chappell can push this one further.

As a choreographer and Artistic Director of his own company in under a year out of professional training, Chappell has achieved an astounding amount. Having just turned 20 in the February, it would be disappointing if he were already hitting the nail on the head with all of his choreography and movement. Richard Chappell is definitely one to watch. Since I first met Chappell in 2013, he has grown tremendously. Knowing he is a diligent and intelligent young man who perseveres, I have no doubt he is in for the long haul. It is a pleasure to watch Chappell grow with each piece he creates. He is not just a clever young man who thinks and creates, but he is also someone who has lived and continues to live who also has something interesting to say. I hope he continues to keep sharing those interesting things with us all. 

By David Murley Artistic

Director of MurleyDance"

Without a doubt this is one of the best reviews that will ever appear in this blog. Because David is a dancer and choreographer he was alert to technical matters and nuances in the choreography that would have eluded me. I am very grateful to him for his excellent contribution.  I am now even more eager to see Richard Chappell's work and I will be at his next show come hell or high water.

MurleyDance's Autumn Tour

MurleyDance has achieved a lot since its début in February 2012. It has completed several nationwide tours visiting venues in Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as big cities like Leeds, Leicester and Manchester and has performed at the Edinburgh festival. It has commissioned work from Briar Adams, Richard Chappell and Anaish Parmar as well as providing a platform for its founder and artistic director David Murley. Above all, it has built up a troupe of beautiful and accomplished dancers. As I said in Ey Up from Upperthong 19 Oct 2014 they have grown in every way since I first saw them on 1 Dec 2013 (see MurleyDance Triple  Bill 2 Dec 2013).

I caught their quadruple bill Hail Britannia at the Shaw Theatre in London on 18 Oct 2014. It consisted of two works by Murley and one each from Chappell and Parmar. I enjoyed each of the works tremendously but particularly Parmar's Shaaadi which transposes the colours, drama and movement of the Hindu wedding into classical ballet. Classical ballet has only recently begun to put down roots in India itself (see More on Ballet in India 4 Sept 2014 and Ballet and Bollywood - why they don't meet more often 15 July 2014) and there are still only a handful of dancers of South Asian heritage in this country, but works like Shaadi should change all that. The jumps, turns and pointe work were all in the classical tradition but the costumes and most of the music could have come from the Hindi cinema. There were wonderful performances from the bride - full of apprehension as she embraced her father and brother - the bridegroom reluctant at first but then performing exuberant jetés - and the busy, busy mother in law despairing and cajoling at first and then dissolving into the dance. A lovely work, I do hope to see Shaadi time and time again.

Chappell's Wayward Kinship was a complete change of mood. Like Gilian Lynne's A Miracle in the Gorbals which I had seen earlier in the day it considered the struggle of the temporal against the spiritual. It explored the friendship between Henry and Beckett and its transition into hate with the eventual ridding of the turbulent priest. The knights who carried out the king's bidding were women and all the more sinister for that. The ballet ended with Beckett nearing his cross triumphant in death. A remarkable work for any choreographer but all the more impressive for a 19 year old who has only just completed his training at Rambert. No doubt we shall see a lot of Richard Chappell in the years to come.

Murley contributed Frisky Claptrap and Highgrove Suite. Both were good but I enjoyed the first work more than the second possibly because of its levity. Ostensibly a tour of Britain by three backpackers - a girl and two boys - it also explored the boys' loyalties. Attracted at first by the girl's charms as the three sped around Britain from Cockfosters to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch by way of Upperthong (a village in the Holme Valley not far from Huddersfield) to a backdrop of continental trains the boys eventually find their home at Happy Bottom.

Highgrove Suite was the last work of the programme and it was impressive. It traced the history of a young girl's passage through life from childhood to her final illness. Bashfulness at her first male encounter, her childish games, motherhood and eventually a hospital bed. Murley created fluent choreography reminiscent of MacMillan to a haunting, lilting score. It is that fluency that attracts me to his work which I noted fist in La Peau last year.

According to the company's website they intend to present their first full length work next year. That is something of an achievement for a company that is not quite three years old. It says a lot for Murley but also for the company's administrative director Paul Kelly, a senior officer of a major retailer who somehow finds time to chair Phoenix and help to oversee The Lowry. Of course, a growing company needs help from its public and there are many ways in which we can all support it.

MurleyDance Hail Britannia

This time last week I saw Sarah Kundi in English National Ballet's Swan Lake (see "What Manchester does today" 10 Oct 2014). She led me to Ballet Black, one of my favourite companies (see "Ballet Black's Appeal" 12 March 2013), and introduced me to the work of Christopher Marney (see "Christopher Marney" 16 March 2014).  I saw Ballet Black perform Marney's latest ballet Dogs don't do Ballet  on Saturday. Sarah Kundi also led me to another great company, MurleyDance, for which she danced before joining ENB ("MurleyDance Triple Bill" 2 Dec 2013). I shall see that company's latest work, Hail Britannia, this Saturday. I am grateful for her for leading me to MurleyDance too.

MurleyDance is taking Hail Britannia on tour. The programme,  includes works by Richard Chappell, Anaish Parmar and David Murley. Chappell's work considers the relationship between Henry II and Thomas Beckett. Knowing the Anouilh play as I do, I am expecting a lot from this work.  Coinciding with diwali, Parmar's  Shaadi is about Hindu wedding traditions in modern Britain. Murley has two works in the mixed programme, Frisky Claptrap which makes fun of British place names like Cockfosters and Fannyfield, and Highgrove Suite which is about a young girl's transition into womanhood.

The show is coming to the Shaw Theatre on Saturday where I shall be. It will them move to Epsom on the 22nd and Cheltenham on the 25th.  The telephone numbers and websites of the theatres where Hail Britannia is to be performed are on the company's website.

The company depends on the public for support and you can donate or sponsor its work through its website.