Artistic Director: Mark Baldwin

Reviewer: Judith Avenell

The Public Reviews Rating:

I love this job! It makes me go and see productions that I would not normally choose and Rambert Ballet’s latest ‘Awakenings’ tour falls into that category.

A buzz in the theatre as a sizeable and nicely mixed audience awaited proceedings is always a good sign and the evening certainly provided excellent entertainment with some technical dancing of a superb standard, as one would expect from a company of Rambert’s history and reputation. Divided into 3 parts, The Art of Touch, Rainforest, Awakenings, the programme showcased 3 very different styles of dance and choreography.

For me the most enjoyable was the first in the programme The Art of Touch, in which Siobhan Davies’ choreography included a delightful mixture of solos, duets and group pieces, set off stunningly by the solo harpsichord of David Gordon (playing Matteo Fargion and Domenico Scarlatti’s music) and Ian Beswick’s use of lights creating a fascinating 3D effect on stage with which the dancers interacted in a most effective way .

It was a shame for me (and I sensed from those around me) that the next two pieces were less appreciated. Rainforest from that doyenne of modern dance Merce Cunningham was certainly atmospheric and some of the portrayals by the dancers of life in the Rain Forest were spookily accurate but I found that Andy Warhol’s floating pillows and the electronic music took away from the performances rather than complimented them.

I was expecting to find Awakenings , choreographed by Arletta Collins, (based on the work of Dr Oliver Sacks with so called ‘sleepy sickness’ sufferers in the 1960’s) hard going from the programme notes and despite the quality of the movement, which was consistently of a high standard throughout the performance, I did indeed struggle. I found the staccato effects slightly irritating and the whole dance slightly troubling, but then perhaps that was the intention. However, I really enjoyed the musical accompaniment composed by Tobias Picker and performed with aplomb by Paul Hoskin’s ‘Awakenings Orchestra’, certainly the musical high point of the evening.

I am not qualified to judge the dancers themselves but those people around me more in the know were very appreciative. Stand out artists were Miguel Altunaga, Otis Cameron Carr, Julia Gillespie and Estela Merlos but the overall standard was high.

Certainly an interesting evening which has opened my eyes and those of my young companion to some aspects of modern dance and one which the Theatre Royal can be proud of presenting.

Rambert Dance Company perform at The Theatre Royal, Brighton until Saturday 26th March

 

Tags: Andy Warhol., Arletta Collins, Awakenings, David Gordon, Domenico Scarlatti, Estela Merlos, Ian Beswick, Julia Gillespie, Mark Baldwin, Matteo Fargion, Merce Cunningham, Miguel Altunaga, Oliver Sacks, Otis Cameron Carr, Paul Hoskins, RainForest, Rambert Dance Company, Siobhan Davies, The Art of Touch, Theatre Royal Brighton, Tobias Picker