zxDaveM Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Foteini Christofilopoulou was at the rehearsal of The Royal Ballet & The National Ballet of Canada presenting ‘The Dreamers Ever Leave You’ by Robert Binet, at The Printworks, Canada Water. 12-13 Oct 2017 Here are some sample photos... Hannah Fischer © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Spencer Hack, Rui Huang © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr Yasmine Naghdi, Ryoichi Hirano © Foteini Christofilopoulou. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr See more...Set from DanceTabs: RB & NBoCanada: The Dreamers Ever Leave You Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr By kind permission of the Royal Opera House 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 Trundled down into the depths of Bermondsey to The Printworks to see this last night. Three strips of white were set out in the huge space with gaps between where you could stand and watch the dancers (or at the end of each strip, where you had to contend with the floor uplighters on occasion). The lighting itself lent an intimacy to this huge space, and was rather well done I thought (by Simon Rossiter). The performances were literally looped through the whole evening, so no obvious start/finish (except at the very beginning, or at the veryy end); I came in for the second 'shift' at what must have been the 'ending' of the first. Come the end of my shift, we were prompted to start making our way to the exits as the final set of people started coming in - though not sure many did leave (I know I didn't). This was useful as I saw many things I'd missed first time around (having the audience between the strips meant you couldn't see what was happening in all three at the same time), or from different angles. The choreography of Robert Binet was at times strikingly beautiful - and seeing dancers like Yasmine Naghdi, Francesca Hayward, Alexander Campbell, Ryoichi Hirano, and Heather Ogden, from 5 feet, rather than 50 yards, was its own reward. Although the dancing abstract, these great artists managed to tell small tales within the steps of meetings, partings, sorrow and sometimes just stillness. Moving between panels through the audience, or simply leaving the panel to go and stand at the back of the room, it took all my willpower not to go and say hello to the dancers! But of course the they were 'in the zone' so that would not have done at all. The music was composed, and played on a grand piano at the back of one of the strips, by Lubomyr Melnyk. He played virtually continuously for the whole two and a half hours (starting at 7pm, it ended around 9.30, so each 45mins slot was actually a bit longer than that). Not exactly hummable music, but quite mesmeric. The dancing reflected it very well - slow and languid for the most part, with bursts of energy as the music had brief crescendos. Any pauses, was just danced through, so as I say, no endings as such - the different duos, solos, trios endings were just marked by dancers leaving the strip, or lying down as the lighting dimmed and the focus moved to the adjacent strip. As I've said I rather naughtily stayed when it was my turn to leave, but I just had to watch the next bit - then the next, and suddenly it was 9.30 and the dancers were finally taking a bow! It was described as 'immersive' for the audience - and it was certainly that. Really glad I went. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Thanks for the report Dave. I'm really jealous! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I think the mmiddle pic above is Robert Stephen rather than Harrison James, but it may just be the angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 39 minutes ago, toursenlair said: I think the mmiddle pic above is Robert Stephen rather than Harrison James, but it may just be the angle. Robert Stephen wasn't among the cast for the piece, so have to stick with Harrison (the name I was told it was) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 55 minutes ago, zxDaveM said: Robert Stephen wasn't among the cast for the piece, so have to stick with Harrison (the name I was told it was) According to the dancers in question, iti is in fact Spencer Hack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 Just now, toursenlair said: According to the dancers in question, iti is in fact Spencer Hack Yes, I saw on Facebook, and have amended Thanks for the info :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riva Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Really enjoyed the performance last night. I was unsure of what to expect but although there was some novelty in being in such an unusual venue, for me the real joy was in being so intimately close to the dancers, and also in being able to walk around the room to decide which dancers to watch, and which angle to see it from. I too entered during the second cycle and stayed until the end. It was only later on that I appreciated the interaction between the three 'stages' which added an extra element to appreciate. Managed to keep calm and not 'fangirl' when Francesca Hayward touched me and Alex Campbell was inches from me, but it took all of my self control! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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