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Rambert: Ghost Dances bill, London, May 2017


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I was at the reharsal for Rambert's run through of Christopher Bruce's 'Ghost Dances', at Sadlers Wells. It opened last night (Tuesday night) and runs through til Saturday 20th May

Here are some photos:


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Ghost Dancers (Daniel Davidson, Liam Francis, Juan Gil)
© Dave Morgan.
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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Edit Domoszlai, Luke Ahmet
© Dave Morgan.
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


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Miguel Altunaga, Carolyn Bolton
© Dave Morgan.
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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Set from DanceTabs: Rambert - Ghost Dances
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

 

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  • John Mallinson changed the title to Rambert: Ghost Dances bill, London, May 2017

Thanks for the great photos, zxDaveM and johnross. I saw this bill last night and found Ghost Dances SO powerful and beautiful. I didn't remember it very well and the extremely low lighting in the 'ghost' sections wasn't helpful (the masks and markings were barely visible); but nevertheless it really packed a punch. Some quite balletic moves, evocative music and excellent dancing, and above all a real theatrical impulse. Christopher Bruce really knew what he was doing! I did wonder if the political aspect would now be evident to anyone who hadn't read the programme or known the context in which the work was created; but if not, I think it still works as a very moving reflection on life, death and shared humanity. I was also thrilled to see Christopher Bruce in the foyer afterwards! (And also Monica Mason - the dance contingent out in force!).

 

I'm afraid I didn't like the other two works, but the dancing was high quality throughout. I do always wonder though why contemporary dancers almost never allow any expression to appear on their faces. I know you don't want grimacing or falsity; but really, they often look as if they're just putting out the rubbish. Their bodies are so expressive but their faces blank. Which is such a shame, because some of them did smile where relevant in Ghost Dances, and at the curtain calls, and it was a revelation.

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I agree with bridiem about Ghost Dances which was worth the ticket price on its own. I hadn't seen it before and found it very moving, especially the sections where "ordinary joys" are cut short by the hand of fate/death/injustice (however you interpret it). Brilliant music-making and I felt the spectral lighting was part of it. Personally I wasn't sure that the rather loud "whooping" as the curtain fell was quite the right response but I imagine it was a tribute to the dancers and so well-deserved. 

 

Compared to the other two works, I felt Christopher Bruce had a richer, more varied, more dramatically expressive dance "vocabulary". Nonetheless, overall, I quite enjoyed 'The 3 Dancers', especially the music and the dancing in threes, as if chained together. The appearance of the 'shards' of glass added an element of suspense (at times of a health & safety nature!). 

 

Speaking of the 'dance contingent' out in force: did I really see Thiago Soares at mezzanine level or was I still under the influence of his Rudolf, and so seeing a mirage? 

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1 minute ago, Johnpw said:

I agree with bridiem about Ghost Dances which was worth the ticket price on its own. I hadn't seen it before and found it very moving, especially the sections where "ordinary joys" are cut short by the hand of fate/death/injustice (however you interpret it). Brilliant music-making and I felt the spectral lighting was part of it. Personally I wasn't sure that the rather loud "whooping" as the curtain fell was quite the right response but I imagine it was a tribute to the dancers and so well-deserved. 

 

Compared to the other two works, I felt Christopher Bruce had a richer, more varied, more dramatically expressive dance "vocabulary". Nonetheless, overall, I quite enjoyed 'The 3 Dancers', especially the music and the dancing in threes, as if chained together. The appearance of the 'shards' of glass added an element of suspense (at times of a health & safety nature!). 

 

Speaking of the 'dance contingent' out in force: did I really see Thiago Soares at mezzanine level or was I still under the influence of his Rudolf, and so seeing a mirage? 

 

Not sure about Thiago Soares! But I wouldn't be surprised.

 

I did actually enjoy 'The 3 Dancers' to start with - but then it just went on and on and on... And yes, I thought the richness of Bruce's vocabulary was very striking compared to the other two works.

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I'll add my voice to bridiem and johnpw. Ghost Dances was clearly the stand-out piece, so much so that it seems almost inappropriate to mention the preceding two, which were fine in their way but felt like warm-ups for the main course. The first one was quite witty but I felt that the repeating loop in the opening section could have been wound up sooner and 3 Dancers was one of those pieces that I could objectively admire but found it hard to engage with on a deeper level.

 

Audience engagement was not a problem with Ghost Dances. From where I was sitting, you could have heard a pin drop for the entire performance. I found it profoundly moving: a haunting, extraordinary work that will stay with me for a long time. The mood was skilfully conjured through the chill of the ghost dancers on the one hand and the colours, movement and music of 'the dead' going through their everyday motions on the other. I especially liked the flowing lines of the small dancer in the red skirt (Hannah Rudd?) and Luke Ahmet particularly stood out. Wasn't he also one of the stand-outs in The Creation?

 

My daughter came along with no knowledge of the back story and whilst she couldn't, therefore, reference Pinochet's Chile she was easily able to make the jump to South America and unnatural death. She also remarked that, along with the Akram Khan Giselle, this was another work that had leaped straight into her all-time top ten and wondered why the Royal Ballet couldn't make works like this.

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The first piece was amusing (and I thought quite clever) to start with, but then it seemed to morph into something else that just didn't know when to stop.

 

The second piece looked interesting but again was far too long. I can't say I found either the choreography or the music inspiring. The quality of dancing however, was superb. I think Bridiem has made a really good point about the dancers lack of facial expression making it difficult for the audience to become fully engaged.

 

Ghost Dances is an iconic piece, head and shoulders above the rest. It certainly got the ovation it deserved but, like Johnpw, I wish people had waited until the curtain had closed completely before making such a noise. I think the lighting was a little dark but it does add to the powerfully brooding atmosphere of the piece. It was also a real pleasure to hear the music performed live. It's worth going just to see Ghost Dances - in fact the the people next to us did just that and only showed up at the end of the second interval.

 

 

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I'd been planning on doing that this afternoon, until Real Life got in the way :(   Hoping they'll bring it back soon, but glad to hear it's as good as it ever was.

 

And it's time Swansong came back, talking of Christopher Bruce works ...

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I went tonight - I concur completely with Mummykool's summary above.  It wasn't helped on this occasion by having hundreds of kids with mobile phones and noisy bags of food there - the Second Circle was much like the one in Dante's Inferno.

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Ghost Dances really was the main event here. I'd been longing to see it as I'd heard so much about it and I'd never seen it before. It is a very compelling piece and the three masked dancers in particular performed superbly. I wondered whether Bruce had ever seen Jooss' The Green Table as the masked dancers performed a similar role to that of Death (again, I think that the dancer is masked) in that work. 

 

I felt that the Collins work rather outstayed its welcome after the witty opening section with the characters on a continuos loop.

 

I actually enjoyed the Veldman piece more than the last time that it was shown at Sadler's Wells. I wonder whether it has been tweaked / tightened up a bit. Last time I felt that there some longueurs.

 

It's time that someone revived Swansong. I'd love to see ENB do it but I'm not sure that they have the right (male) dancers for the prisoner character although I think that there are several dancers who could take on the guards roles. I believe that the parts can also be taken by women, which would give some interesting possibilities. It would be intriguing to see alternating male and female casts and see what each gender brought to the work.

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