Why does multimedia seduce so many dance makers? Most dabble with film and digital effects, yet few create a genuine synergy with the steps.
There are two or three good examples out of dozens who have tried, with the rest far less than the sum of their parts.
Christopher Wheeldon is a talented choreographer, but he struggles when it comes to multimedia. His new piece for The Royal Ballet includes glamorous film of the dancers who are projected larger-than-life onto the plain set.
The dancers serenade these more formal versions of themselves while they talk about what it "means" to be a dancer.
Wheeldon also includes a "digital corps de ballet", with multiples of the dancers projected onto the set. Then there are graphic projections and four doors in the set through which the dancers charge in and out.
I could go on, but Electric Counterpoint (named after Steve Reich's score) is a muddle. The dancers (Sarah Lamb, Zenaida Yanowsky, Eric Underwood and Edward Watson), are faultless performers, ill-served by the work.
Wheeldon may be experimenting, he may be counter-choreographing the "real" dancer and the stage dancer, or he may just have dashed this off. Either way, the lacklustre piece opened a strangely flat evening.
In rep until 19 March (020 7304 4000; www.roh.org.uk).
Royal Ballet: Mixed Bill
Covent Garden
