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The relative merits of dance
Energy into dance in the first part of Birmingham Royal Ballet's triple bill
E-MC2,
Tombeaux, Still Life at the Penguin Café Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Hippodrome ***** ANYONE who has not been visiting
relatives on Planet Zog has heard of Albert Einstein and the Theory of
Relativity. Some even know the formulae, e=mc2, while some even know what it stands for, energy equals mass times the speed of light squared, while there are even a small number who not only know but actually understand what it means. So for Birmingham Royal Ballet director
David Bintley to attempt to turn this widely known yet little understood
building block of physics into dance was, to say the least, a challenge. That he has succeeded was perhaps confirmed by
the piece, premiered in 2009, winning The South Bank Show Dance Award in
2010. Bintley has broken the formulae down into its
component parts, three movements, energy, mass and celeritas, the Latin
for swiftness along with a shorter, powerful fourth movement, The
Manhattan Project, which changes both the pace and direction of the
piece. Just as Einstein saw the links between apparently
diverse elements of the physical universe this piece brings together all
the elements of ballet, music, dance, design and lighting. With light such an important part of the equation
Peter Mumford’s design deserves a curtain call of its own with its
slanted shafts, pencil spots and lines of light. With commissioned music from Australian Matthew
Hindson, Energy is loud with crashing brass with 20 dancers creating
rapid patterns in a blur of movement dominated by Elisha Willis and
Joseph Caley in a largely black and white world with only hints of
colour. Mass is more lyrical, a blue hue, with duets and
trios almost like elements combining while celeritas2 is
bright, full of rapid movement led by Maureya Lebowitz and Mathias
Dingman. Between M and C2 came Samara Downs in a white kimono in a simple, piece,The Manhatten Project, a gentle dance which is finally disturbed by a loud crash. The project itself ran in the Second World War
where it eventually produced the first atomic bomb - and the first
practical illustration of Einstein’s theory of the link between mass and
energy. A mass of just 0.6 grams, two hundredths of an
ounce, of Uranium 235, was turned into energy - heat and light – in the
Little Boy bomb 80,000 people, a third of the population of Hiroshima,
died instantly as 69 per cent of the city’s buildings were destroyed.
Tombeaux is more of a reflective piece and much
more classical in form, not surprising as it is in part a tribute to one
of Bintley’s heroes Frederic Ashton and was also a lament from a
disillusioned Bintley, the then resident choreographer for The Royal
Ballet in what was his last piece for them before leaving 1993. The music is William Walton’s Variations on a
Theme by Paul Hindemith, and is a tribute from once composer to another. Nao Sakuma, always a delight to watch, and César
Morales dance the leads in what is very much a traditional ballet in the
Ashton style, romantic and lyrical, with some well and easily executed
inverted lifts. The design, incidentally, was by Jasper Conran
which gave is inky black tutus with white underlayers. Although Bintley was despairing at the direction
British ballet seemed to be taking in what are some sombre scenes there
is hope and quite an uplifting finale which, in the real world, was
perhaps prophetic as Bintly first freelanced for a while before
returning to England and taking over from the retiring Peter Wright as
director of BRB in 1995 to reset the course of at least one ballet
company to one more of his own vision. The final piece has no obvious hidden meanings,
no references to complex formulae or laments for lost causes, Still
Life at The Penguin Café is pure, unadulterated fun with some
delightful individual performances with the likes of Chi Cao as the
remarkably lithe Southern Cape Zebra, Laura Day as the diminutive orange
clad Humboldt’s Hog-nosed Skunk Flea and, a particular favourite, Joseph
Caley as the Texan Kangaroo Rat, all ho down with a touch of
Deliverance. Ruth Brill brings a touch cartoon silliness to
the Great Auk while Angela Paul brings a touch of MGM musical glamour
along with a white tie and tails Iain Mackay in a fine Utah Longhorn Ram
duet. Céline Gittins, Tyrone Singleton and Eva Davies
provide a little poignancy as a family of humans, just a small part of
the animal kingdom while Jamie Bond is a rather swish showman as a
Brazilian Woolly Monkey, all set to music by Simon Jeffes, who led his
own Penguin Café Orchestra. The dances are based on David Day’s The
Doomsday Book of Animals and way back in 1988 when the work first
premiered, wildlife, or at least its preservation, was perhaps seen as
not really an, if it was noticed at all, by most people, so the fact
every animal featured is endangered, while the Great Auk, the
original penguin, had already been hunted to extinction, the last pair
being killed in 1844, probably did not register too highly on the
conscience scale. It is only later that you find that fun had a
point and its price.
Three very different ballets from the same
choreographer which shows not only his range but also how fortunate
Birmingham is to have its own internationally acclaimed ballet company,
and not many cities throughout the world can say that. To 05-10-13. Roger Clarke Next week BRB are staging Sleeping Beauty.
Oct 8-12.
And from the back of
the cafe THE brilliant choreographer David Bintley
has created another masterpiece in this spectacular triple bill that
gives the audience a subtle reminder of the need to take care of our
planet. Opening with E=MC2, danced to a specially
commissioned score by the Australian composer Matthew Hindson, the corps
de ballet perform quite brilliantly in the tale which explores
Einstein's special theory of relativity. With grace, skill and passion they suggest how
energy develops from mass, as, dressed in navy blue costumes, they bond
together then split apart at bewildering speed to spine-tingling music
played by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, conducted by Paul Murphy. And there is a thought-provoking finale as a
dancer in white kimono, holding a red fan,
performs emotionally against a blood red background in a poignant
reminder of the horror of Hiroshima. The second ballet, Tombeaux, with music by
William Wilson, is Bintley's lament on the death of his mentor, Sir
Frederick Ashton, featuring a wonderful performance by Nao Sakuma and
Cesar Morales. Cheers on opening night greeted several aspects
of the third and final piece, 'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe, in which
endangered animals shelter from the storm, mingling for drinks and a
chat in the Penguin Cafe....special masks creating a ballroom dancing
ram and even a flea performing beautifully with Morris dancers,
providing a powerful hint at man's dangerous effect on the world in
which we live. Music is by Simon Jeffes. This memorable ballet with a message runs to
05-10-13 Paul Marston
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