Seduction, quadruple bill, Stuttgart Ballet

[Duck]

Seduction in various guises is the common thread of the current mixed bill at Stuttgart Ballet, and its title. I saw the programme on Friday evening.

 

Katarzyna Kozielska’s Dark Glow explores the negative side of seduction. To new music by Gabriel Prokofiev, the piece includes a lead couple and a female soloist (Hyo-Jung Kang & Pablo von Sternenfels and Ami Morita on Friday, the latter two in debuts), three more couples and a female corps, all in shades of pastel colours. The leads and the three couples illustrate aspects of friendship and love through various PDD with high lifts; the corps moves as a group and does not interact with the others. After some time, strong lights appear from the top and most dancers now wear the same black long shirt. Their movements have become uniform and they are attracted by the lights, assembling underneath and looking up expectantly. As the lights come closer, the dancers bend their heads and look down to the floor, curbing their upper bodies under the intensity of the lights. The male lead joins the group, the female lead is left hesitating whether to join or stay on her own, isolated. There is no indication as to what the lights stand for, leaving plenty of room for individual interpretation, and I found this piece incredibly powerful and thought-provoking.

 

Change of mood with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Faun, which is quite possibly the most sensual piece that I’ve seen over the last ten years. He uses Debussy’s music (for the faun’s introductory solo) plus that of Nitin Sawhney (for the nymph’s introductory solo), and a combination of both for the remainder of the piece. The backcloth shows a wooded area clad in soft sunlight. The faun wakes up with some animal-like movements – slow curbing of the spine, parts of a headstand, moving along the floor in a wide grand plie … He comes on stage again towards the end of the nymph’s solo and sees her. He retreats, she takes the initiative and touches his toes with her toes. That’s when their movements synchronise for a short while, before they start to interweave their arms, their legs, their bodies, in ever changing variations, and in all possible and impossible contortions. They move side by side and go back to entwining. The sunlight on the backcloth changes slightly at various points of the choreography, illustrating the length of the interaction. This piece was truly spellbinding. The performance on Friday was a double debut for Elisa Badenes and Adam Russell-Jones, and they received a huge roar of approval.

 

Marco Goecke’s Le Spectre de la Rose is based on Fokine’s ballet. Goecke adds another piece of music by von Weber, and also a number of ghosts in red velvet suits who scatter red rose pedals on the stage. Red clothing also for the Rose (Louis Stiens on Friday evening, another debut) – red pants covered in rose pedals, and red gloves made out of rose pedals. Movements are typical Goecke with fluttering hands, but he keeps e.g., the jump with which the Rose comes on stage, and adds arm movements that evoke the shape of a rose. My only regret is that I watched a video of Fokine’s version only after I saw Goecke’s piece rather than beforehand.

 

Maurice Bejart’s Bolero, on Friday with Jason Reilly dancing on the table. What can I say; it’s just fascinating to watch how the dance builds up in intensity, commensurate with the increasing volume of the music, and how simple steps can be used to such great effect.

 

The company has published a trailer of the programme on their web site https://www.stuttgart-ballet.de/. The current run is sold out, and the odd return ticket becomes available.