Jan McNulty Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Tree of Codes opened tonight (although I hadn't actually realised I had booked for the first night!). It is astounding! So astounding that the first thing I did when I got in was book a ticket for Wednesday night! The performance runs for 75 minutes without an interval. More anon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Jealous... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 (edited) Janet: I've been mildly surprised to see that pre-publicity material had used the term "Company Wayne McGregor" rather than "Random Dance" for this collaboration. Has that changed in the programme for the evening? Edited to add that the performance certainly unleashed a barrage of ecstatic responses on Twitter. Edited July 4, 2015 by Ian Macmillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Tree of Codes opened tonight (although I hadn't actually realised I had booked for the first night!). It is astounding! So astounding that the first thing I did when I got in was book a ticket for Wednesday night! The performance runs for 75 minutes without an interval. More anon... Sounds promising - I will try to see it when it comes to Sadler's Wells. Has he done something new choreographically? I very much like his work up to (and including) Infra, but have found everything since then rather meaningless, repetitive and frankly boring and made palatable only by his penchant for very flashy and expensive staging and lighting. Given we seem to be stuck with him at the Royal Ballet, it would be encouraging to hear that he has turned a corner and started to be creative again rather than rolling out the same old moves. (Maybe the Paris dancers inspire him?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Having been RT'd by Wayne McGregor, this appeared on the Forum's Twitter timeline: http://twitter.com/NatalieAnglesey/status/617251233133371392 If Wayne has managed to find the Review, he's welcome to my Links job for several minutes searching around the Manchester Evening News site have failed to reveal it. Dear Natalie, including 5 Twitter addresses is not achieving your aim - but a single link would. Watch what Judith Mackrell and others do in such circumstances, and possibly increase your readership thereby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Mark Monahan of the Telegraph seems to have got in with the first UK review, awarding most points to Jamie XX's 'sonic imagination' but sees 'sameness' set in on the choreography: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/11715945/Tree-of-Codes-Manchester-International-Festival-review-magical.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Janet: I've been mildly surprised to see that pre-publicity material had used the term "Company Wayne McGregor" rather than "Random Dance" for this collaboration. Has that changed in the programme for the evening? Edited to add that the performance certainly unleashed a barrage of ecstatic responses on Twitter. Ian, I've just checked the programme - the company is described as Company Wayne McGregor (formerly Wayne McGregor | Random Dance). I'll change the title of the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Another review from Charlotte Gush… (I refrain from making the obvious pun.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Luke Jennings in today's Observer: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/05/tree-of-codes-review-all-action-no-consequence I stand to be corrected, but both he and Mark Monahan (both ex-dancers, I believe) acknowledge the dazzle that appears to mark this show but without being overly impressed by the choreography, and their perspective seems somewhat at variance from the general tone of responses seen on Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 This performance has been running around my head since I saw and was bowled over by it on Friday evening. And make no mistake, I was bowled over by it. I think, though, that you have to think of it as an integrated whole where the visual concept and music are as important as the dancers. Without any one of these elements the piece would fail, whereas more conventionally you could change the costumes and perhaps even the score and still have something meaningful. Indeed David Nixon demonstrated how the music could be changed but you could still have the same choreography at an open rehearsal day a few years ago. Where to start. The recorded music is in surround sound - I was on the front row and there was a small speaker directly in front of me but the music seemed to be coming from all around the auditorium. I just loved it! Lights lit the audience on a number of occasions. The piece started in total darkness with dancers encased in black but with lights on their costumes. It was a quite surreal experience because you could not see the dancers at all (or at least I could not) just the lights moving perhaps like a constellation in the galaxy. This transmogrified into dancers holding what could be large lampshades with mirrored interiors. We still could not see the dancers except, this time, for their hands coming through the horizontally held "lamp shades". Finally the lighting ramped up and we could see the dancers and also at times ourselves as the back of the set was mirrored. The lighting meant that the audience was not on view for the whole performance. The company of dancers was made up of six dancers from Paris Opera Ballet and nine from the (newly renamed Company Wayne McGregor). They were, without exception, utterly magnificent as they performed McGregor's signature sinuous ferral moves and including extreme positions and extensions. For me there were two notable duets and lots of combinations of the dancers. A glass screen came down in front of the mirrors with some dancers in front and some behind the screen - there were some fantastical effects where the dancers behind the screen were multiplied in the faceted mirrors but those in front were not. Sometimes the dancers were mirroring each other and sometimes performing different sequences. Then another screen came down with two revolving circles of glass and that caused the lighting effects to flutter around the auditorium somewhat like the effect (but more so) of a glitterball. The 75 intense minutes flew by in the blink of an eye! As I said in my first post it is an outstanding work but think of it as an integrated whole rather than a dance work. I am tremendously looking forward to seeing it again on Wednesday. BTW, the audience was very varied and very enthusiastic, with many people leaping to their feet at the end. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I wonder whether the POB dancers will perform in this work when it tours (I hope so). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 (edited) Sounds like you had a great time JMcN - still unsure I would enjoy it. Sadly can't make any of the perfs as going to see La Fille Mal Gardee in Paris which I know for sure I'll like. I met Wayne McGregor when I saw Jewels in Amsterdam and chatted to him for a while and he told me about the Manchester shows he was doing with POB dancers. Good that this opened in Manchester for a change. Edited July 5, 2015 by Don Q Fan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 BTW, the audience was very varied and very enthusiastic, with many people leaping to their feet at the end. That seems to happen at pretty much every new McGregor work in London. I am not convinced it usually reflects the quality of what was on stage, though. This does sound worth a look, though. If only to see the Paris dancers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 6, 2015 Author Share Posted July 6, 2015 A short excerpt is included in this blog: http://uproxx.com/music/2015/07/jamie-xx-ballet-tree-of-codes-preview/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coated Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Hmmm. Does the sound track vary or does is sound like all the way through? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 I found it varied. I'm seeing the Wednesday evening performance, am interested to see if I will be as bowled over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheilaC Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 I saw the first (preview) performance last Thursday. I booked when it was first announced, partly as Aurelie Dupont was then scheduled to perform; ironically, she didn't perform in Manchester as she decided instead to dance in Paris that weekend in McGregor's L'Anatomie de la Sensation, the second of his ballets commissioned by Paris Opera Ballet. I saw the second performance of this run of the ballet (premiered in 2007) the matinee last Sunday. Unfortunately this wasn't one of Dupont's performances as it was the second cast. But as a ballet it is a stronger piece than Tree of Codes, with a much better score, Mark Anthony Turnage's Blood on the Floor, and more focused choreography, drawing on the narrative structure of the score and the strengths of the original cast. That said, Tree of Codes is visually stunning, a brilliant show. Although it is hard to see how it relates to the original book, and the choreography is repetitive at times, especially at the end, the dancers, both from Company Wayne McGregor and the Paris etoiles, Marie-Agnes Gillot and Jeremie Belingard, when they finally appear, are superb and the overall impact of the stage effects, lighting, design, fabulous. Perhaps I can add that the two performances of Fille I saw last weekend in Paris were good, with an excellent Lise by a sujet, Eleonore Guerineau, in her first principal role, a musical dancer with a strong technique and nice epaulement and a warm lively personality. Philip Ellis conducted (normally Royal Ballet Sinfonia). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share Posted July 8, 2015 Well I had my second bite of Tree of Codes tonight. I think there were some technical issues with the set tonight as there was some light filtering from the top of the stage at the start tonight so I could just about make out the dancers and not just see the lights. I could also see the dancers behind the "lamp shades". About 2/3 the way through the mirrored effects were not working properly but the issue was fortunately resolved by the time of the revolving circles of glass at the front. The performance started about 20 minutes late. Despite these glitches I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than I did on Friday night. I think probably the best way to enjoy it is to go and see it as a visual and aural experience rather than a dance performance. I'll be looking at the tour dates as I would really like to see it again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 Stuart Maconie in the New Statesman (scroll down and also in Today's links) describes Tree of Codes as a "sensual immersion". Although his review is longer than those 2 words they sum up the performance to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assoluta Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Despite these glitches I enjoyed it as much, if not more, than I did on Friday night. I think probably the best way to enjoy it is to go and see it as a visual and aural experience rather than a dance performance. A sound advice, I am afraid. This week in Paris the "dancing" part felt like a tired exercise in gymnastics with Marie-Agnès Gillot making an impression as if she was completely disengaged from the piece itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Saw it this evening - loved it. Go see it at SW! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 I saw the matinee in Paris yesterday. It's a fascinating example of the integration of different art forms. Dance, music and scenography all inspired by a book which is based on another book. Stunning images of dance created through the use of light, screens and a variety of mirrors, as if looking through the cut-out pages of said book in ever-changing combinations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Is it still running at 1 1/4 hours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 It's still 75 minutes without interval. Information about Tree of Codes on the POB web site https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/season-16-17/ballet/tree-of-codes, also listing the cast in Paris and providing a number of articles in English about the work as well as a video interview with Marie-Agnès Gillot and Jérémie Bélingard with English subtitles. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 If anyone's planning on queuing for returns for this evening at Sadler's Wells, you might want to drop me a PM. Just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I'm about to return a good mid-price Second Circle ticket to the box office, if anyone's interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the Sadlers Wells rehearsal - here are some photos: Company Wayne McGregor / Paris Opera Ballet: Tree of Codes© Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / FlickrCompany Wayne McGregor / Paris Opera Ballet: Tree of Codes© Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more... Set from DanceTabs: Company Wayne McGregor / Paris Opera Ballet: Tree of CodesCourtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I saw this tonight. It is an incredible theatrical experience and I very much enjoyed it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Someone please console me by telling me that it wouldn't have been a good idea to watch it with a migraine brewing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I don't think that it would have been a good idea, alison. At points there were bright lights shining directly into the auditorium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Oh no, that would definitely have done for me. Thanks, aileen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 (edited) Saw this tonight and enjoyed it overall, though as often with Wayne McGregor I'd take the pruning knife to a few passages. I was impressed by one dancer in particular, but didn't get a programme - she was small, with olive skin and a long dark ponytail (the only dancer with one). Her style reminded me somewhat of Crystal Costa. I assume she was one of the Paris contingent but their website usefully gives a separate hyperlink for every company member instead of a gallery of photos, and I'm not that dedicated! I was amused, turning up a bit early and passing the stage door, to see one of the dancers outside in puffy warm-up kit having a pre-performance fag, or should I say 'clope'... Now that is very French! Edit: found her; Fukiko Takase, one of Wayne's company rather than a Parisian Edited March 8, 2017 by Quintus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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