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Ballet with a Rio rhythm
Grupo Corpo
Birmingham Hippodrome
**** THIS mix of ballet and contemporary dance
with a Brazilian twist all danced to music which at times is insistently
pulsating, at times beautifully lyrical, is all quite hypnotic. It seems to have no obvious narrative although
the shapes created and the movement suggest moods and emotions. The
opening piece, Sem Mim, which dates from 2011, ebbs and flows as the 18
dancers appear together, in groups of various sizes and singly. At times they dance as individuals with no
apparent link with other dancers but amid the unrelated dances
patterns emerge and suddenly the stage is filled with perhaps two
groups, or a single tribe. The programme tells us the sea of Vigo carries
away and b The music for the dance, which was all in place
before a step was choreographed, is written by Carlos Núñes of Vigo in
northern Spain (Home of Celta Vigo in La Liga for those who think Brazil
is all about carnival and football) and José Miguel Wisnik of Brazil,
based on the only surviving seven songs of 13th century
Galician Portuguese poet Martin Codax, the sea of Vigo song cycle, his
Cantiga de amigo , literally songs about a boyfriend. And there is certainly a feel of waves, of storms
and calm, and a sensuality with the nine men and nine women in the same
tight body stockings, a design by Freusa Zechmeister. Which diminishes
sexuality in favour of sensuality. The individual designs on each costume are
inspired by mediaeval drawings and leave the dancers appearing naked
apart from 13th century tattoos. The setting and lighting by Paulo Pederneiras are
an integral part of the dance with a huge shimmering sheet slowly raised
to create a cloud with lighting able to change it from summer’s day to
storm cloud. At one point it drops for one sensual dance where there is
no mistaking man and women and with a front gauze creates a dreamy mist.
The dancing is not what we are accustomed to in
more classical dance with choreography from Rodrigo Pederneiras
introducing lithe, flowing movements with waves flowing from head to
foot, which means that the whole body becomes part of the dance. The narrative may be difficult to follow but the
story is told in the feelings the dancers create with music that is
always interesting and at times has hints of Irish folk song amid Andean
pipes and lyrical piano. The second piece is the much older Parabelo, from
1997 created after choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras had travelled
around the hot, poor north east of Brazil. The people had little but
still managed vibrant art, dance and music. The music from Tom Zé and
José Miguel Wisnik draws on that energy and life which is also reflected
in the dance and set design from Fernando Velloso and Paulo Pederneiras. A backdrop of huge heads quickly changes to a
wall mural of life in towns and villages off the tourist trail. The dance is full of life and energy to end the
show on a high. Again we see individual dances slowly finding
unison, order out of chaos and once again we are presented with dancing
of the highest quality. The company was formed in 1975 by Pederneiras
brothers and has gone from strength to strength and it is easy to see
why. Grupo Corpo, literally Body Group, have a second night at
Birmingham Hippodrome 29-10-14 Roger Clarke
28-10-14 Grupo Corpo is presented by Dance Consortium
which is a group of 16 theatres across the UK which came together in
2000 to bring contemporary dance companies from around the world to
Britain, providing venues for a viable tour and sharing costs and risks. Since its formation Dance Consortium has
presented 34 tours by 22 different companies from Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Cuba, France, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Israel and the USA with
performances and education activities experienced by hundreds of
thousands of people around the UK. Member theatres are: Grand Opera House, Belfast; Birmingham Hippodrome; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford; Brighton Dome; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh; Curve Theatre, Leicester; Sadler’s Wells, London; Milton Keynes Theatre; Theatre Royal, Newcastle; Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, with Dance 4; Theatre Royal, Plymouth; The Lowry, Salford; The Mayflower, Southampton; New Victoria Theatre, Woking
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rings
back friends and lovers and in turn gives life to Sem Mim, which
translates as without me.