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Richard Alston Dance Company - Spring Tour 2017


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I spent a truly blissful evening last night watching the Richard Alston Dance Company at The Lowry.  I apologise in advance that this post is going to be overly full of superlatives!

 

The evening started with the absolutely exquisite An Italian in Madrid.  I was just transported away by the luscious choreography, the quality of the dancing, the glorious music and the costumes.  It's the first time I have seen a scenario for a piece by Richard Alston (I don't always buy a programme so I am not sure if any other of his works are defined by one).  The piece has 2 scenes - the first showing the composer Scarlatti in Naples flirting (or maybe teaching) with the ladies.  The second scene is set in Lisbon where he is the teacher of a young Portuguese princess due to become a bride and Princess of Spain.  Guest dancer Vidya Patel was beautiful and very expressive.  Richard Alston had wanted to incorporate some hints of Kathak in the choreography and to my way of thinking he has succeeded with the way he uses her swirling turns and some of her small leaps.  The two styles meld into one with glorious effect.  I loved the beautiful duet between Vidya Patel and Liam Riddick as they are getting to know each other.  The slightly differing styles of their movement to me highlighted the cultural differences between the pair.  The courtly moves of the men sometimes reminded me of the movements for the men shown in the TV programme about the making of David Bintley's The King Dances and the piece, for me, had a sense of that time.  Yes, I know I am repeating myself, but I just found it truly exquisite.  I could have watched it all over again ... and again ... and again ...

 

After the interval we were treated to Martin Lawrence's Tangent set to a piano arrangement of Piazolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.  I just loved the music (I must see if it is available on CD) and Martin Lawrence made the most of it.  Although it was a contemporary dance piece it definitely had a flavour of tango.  I found it exhilarating to watch.

 

The evening ended with Richard Alston's Chacony, which is in 2 parts - the first to music by Purcell and the second to music by Britten.  The Purcell section was stately and courtly and the Britten section had more of a visceral edge to me.  What brought the two halves into a cohesive whole was Alston's use of the music and his sheer musicality as a choreographer.  I love his fluid and flowing movements that are so beautiful and at time ethereal.  Again I just loved watching this piece and didn't want it to end.

 

So it really was a truly blissful evening.

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Glad you enjoyed it so much :)  I saw the company twice last year and the performances were among my dance highlights for 2016. It's heartening to see what can be achieved with a (presumably) modest budget. For me Alston's choreography fits the music like glove and the dancers interpret it so movingly. I was very happy that Alastair Macaulay gave them a great write up earlier this month. 

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