Some of today’s most interesting contemporary dance works involve a mash-up of verbatim theatre, text, visuals, music, film. Earlier this year, DV8’s John (at the National Theatre), turned first-person interviews about men and love into thrilling choreography. And now this triple bill, to mark 10 years of Associate Artists at Sadler’s Wells, aimed to push the boundaries.
The Chaplin-esque SMILE, choreographed and performed by Tommy Franzén and directed by Kate Prince (creator of Some Like It Hip Hop), looked at the sadness behind the entertainer. All silly walks and pratfalls, Franzén was technically brilliant but the piece lacked a sense of Chaplin’s complex psychology.
In contrast Crystal Pite’s male-female duet, A Picture of You Falling, was beautiful, eerie, filmic. We know Pite can do mass spectacle (her sci-fi-influenced Polaris for 60 dancers was the highlight of 2014). But this was intimate. Set to an insistent female voice, it brought “snapshots” of a relationship to life. “This is what you looked like as you fell,” intoned the voice, as the dancers swirled over each other.
Another hypnotic female (actress Natascha McElhone) narrated Hofesh Shechter’s The barbarians in love. Shechter said he wanted to tackle innocence. Set to baroque music, six dancers performed earthy, muscular repetitions.
Then suddenly it unravelled — as McElhone bluntly asked: “What are you saying Hofesh?”, triggering an extraordinary “confession” from the choreographer of a mid-life crisis at 40 and marital infidelity.
The final line-up — where dancers appeared to be naked — felt terrifically exposing in a piece obsessed with precision.
Had Shechter really cheated on his wife? What was Pite’s experience of unrequited love? You left the theatre questioning the nature of authorship, confession, and live performance. Long may it continue.
Kate Prince, SMILE ★★★
Crystal Pite, A Picture of You Falling ★★★★★
Hofesh Shechter, The barbarians in love ★★★★
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