One of the excitements for an audience is to spot future stars.
The problem with alienation is that it alienates the audience
In this programme the star choreographer was undoubtedly Malcolm Sutherland. Based in Scotland, Sutherland has performed in the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballet and studied choreography, by Crystal Pite and Mats Ek amongst others and it shows. He has already choreographed two works at the Tafelhalle, Nürnberg. In his piece Ciunas Gan Uaigneas, Gaelic for ‘quietness without loneliness’, movements are melded beautifully with music by Arvo Pärt and Rabbie Burns. There was also a voiceover quoting text from Bukovsky, but the technical quality of the audio was too poor to hear what it said. That is being picky in an otherwise exquisite piece danced by Molly Dainter, (Fri), Jorja Follina and Sakura Inoue (Sat). The three moved in and out of shapes always conscious of a choreographic whole, an uplifting and joyous experience.
Sadly the other pieces on offer lacked any concept of choreographic unity. Skeletons Nice by Trak Dance Ensemble, choreographed by Barnaby Booth started with a voiceover quoting a piece by the neuroscientist, David Eagleman, about atoms and how they disperse after we die. Unfortunately this text was more interesting than the dance that followed and seemed to be the justification for the dancers, Jadwiga Mordarska and Mate Asbot, to wander randomly about with too much stop/start. There was some arresting unexpected choreography here and there (demonstrating Booth’s experienced career) but overall the exploration of a male/female relationship was too predictable and unsubtle.
A Fragile Geography: State and Exhale (Indra Dance Company) were choreographed and danced by Daniel Navarro Lorenzo (Scotland) with Anna Borràs Picó (Sweden). Both pieces were hugely depressing. The pretext was exploring alienation. The problem with alienation is that it alienates the audience. Even in the duets of reconciliation at the end they never looked at each other. The dance was heavy with portentous but meaningless gestures. It was as if the dancers, magnificent as dancers, were asked to show off every difficult move they had learnt at dance school, all cobbled together without a deeper understanding of the emotional and structural aspects of choreography.
