Jan McNulty Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Scottish Dance Theatre performed their latest double bill at The Lowry last night. Ritualia is a modern adaptation of Les Notes. The 9 dancers were in unisex costumes with hoods so very androgynous in appearance. I liked this piece a lot. One of the dancers, at the start, was sitting in the back corner of the stage wearing an enormous rope wig that they were gradually plaiting. The lighting for this piece was very effective. It used a recorded score. The other dancers were posing in groups or singly and then bursting out into flowing choreography or slowly crawling off on their hands and knees. There was one rather lovely duet for 2 of the dancers. The stage went dark and the dancers reappeared wearing giant wigs. Eventually they left the stage and one dancer encased in ropes came back on the stage. The end. Although it sounds a bizarre piece, I got pulled into it from the start and was rather sorry when it came to its conclusion. After the interval we saw The Circle for 12 dancers. I think I would have enjoyed this piece much more if I hadn't loathed the costumes on first sight. The men were wearing dance shorts and the ladies were wearing dance shorts and crop tops. So far so good. Unfortunately they also had what looked like bits of crumpled duvet attached to their tops. Three of the men had what looked liked whole manky duvets attached to them. The group danced as a mass and the work seemed to show relationships between people and crowds as the dancers, sometimes broke out of the mass. It was danced to a recording of a live gig that had a driving beat. The choreography looked interesting but was really let down by the dreadful costumes. So a mixed evening for me - I would love to see Ritualia again but, unless re-costumed, not The Circle. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 I'd love to see a photo illustrating the 'manky duvet' look it sounds like a scream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 5, 2019 Author Share Posted June 5, 2019 I've just had a look at the website. On the production page there are small photographs but unfortunately when you open the specific page they aren't repeated. At least you can get a bit of an idea! https://www.scottishdancetheatre.com/productions?prod_cat=190 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted June 5, 2019 Share Posted June 5, 2019 Gordon Bennet! whose idea was that............................. Your description is spot on- they look like duvets in a teenager's bedroom having been left unattended for a fortnight...... What dancers have to put up with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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