Dutch National Ballet - Dawson

[Terpsichore]

David Dawson is one of our leading choreographers but British ballet goers usually have to travel to see his work.   That is because he is Associate Artist with the Dutch National Ballet and resident choreographer with the Semperoper Ballett in Dresden.  I am on my way back from Amsterdam where I saw the Dutch National Ballet dance Dawson, a double bill consisting of David Dawson's "Legacy Variations" and "The Four Seasons".   I have attended some great shows since the world's companies emerged from lock down:  Like Water for Chocolate and Mayerling by the Royal Ballet and the last programme of the Dutch National Ballet's van Manen festival to name just three.   Yet Sunday's performance of Dawson was the highlight of my year.

Legacy Variations  was performed by James Stout, Edo Wijnen and Joseph Maseralli.  The Four Seasons was a much longer piece with 16 dancers.   I have reviewed the double bill in Terpsichore for anyone who may be interested.   I mention it here because nobody else seems to have done so.   There are still a few more performances.  If you happen to be in Amsterdam and can get a ticket I am sure you will enjoy it.

[Sabine0308]

I absolutely loved David Dawson's "Affairs of the heart" which he did for Munich Staatsballett. I've seen it twice. The beautiful choreography on the wonderful music by Marjan Mozetich for couples, 3 or more dancers onstage and for the solo parts fits like a glove to all of them. 

Here in Berlin, I've seen his very impressive "Citizen nowhere" (what a Marathon for a male dancer🙈) and "Voices" which made me yawn (sorry I'm just honest). I liked the idea behind Voices, but there were long parts where the declaration of human rights were spoken over the music/dance and it was just too lengthy, for my gusto. Also, many choreographic parts were repeated again and again. And Max Richter's music was a bit drowsy. 

I hope next year, I can check out his "Romeo&Juliet" in Dresden.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Sabine0308

[zxDaveM]

The UK critics (and many UK ballet fans) seem to really dislike his work, so much so, that I'm sure I read somewhere he has vowed to never create work for a UK company again. Which is a shame for me, as I realy like his choreograhy

[jm365]

I loved his Giselle, which I saw in Ljubljana.

[Angela]

1 hour ago, zxDaveM said:

The UK critics (and many UK ballet fans) seem to really dislike his work

 

I'm with you, UK.

[LACAD]

3 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

The UK critics (and many UK ballet fans) seem to really dislike his work, so much so, that I'm sure I read somewhere he has vowed to never create work for a UK company again. Which is a shame for me, as I realy like his choreograhy

I wonder with Watkin taking over ENB will the tide change?

[Lizbie1]

6 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

The UK critics (and many UK ballet fans) seem to really dislike his work, so much so, that I'm sure I read somewhere he has vowed to never create work for a UK company again. Which is a shame for me, as I realy like his choreograhy

 

It all got a bit nasty (apologies for the paywalled article, I couldn't find another quickly):

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/23/royal-ballet-choreographer-appears-ridicule-stars/

 

I'd probably have had more sympathy for Dawson's position had his assistant not blamed the dancers publicly.

[Terpsichore]

5 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

The UK critics (and many UK ballet fans) seem to really dislike his work, so much so, that I'm sure I read somewhere he has vowed to never create work for a UK company agai

He has created a magnificent "Swan Lake" for Scottish Ballet which would have been revived in 2020 had it not been for Covid19.  I love that work, It seemed to go down a treat in Liverpool when I saw it.   I reviewed it in Terpsichore pm 4 June 2016 and probably also here.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Terpsichore
Corrected typos

[Jan McNulty]

7 hours ago, Terpsichore said:

He has created a magnificent "Swan Lake" for Scottish Ballet which would have been revived in 2020 had it not been for Covid19.  I love that work, It seemed to go down a treat in Liverpool when I saw it.   I reviewed it in Terpsichore pm 4 June 2016 and probably also here.

Yes, I also loved that Swan Lake.

[Angela]

I only know his one act pieces "The Grey Area", "A Million Kisses to my Skin" or "Affaires of the Heart", and what I find very boring is his complete lack of dynamics. It's the choreography that lacks dynamic variability, not the dancers, please don't get me wrong, they have a lot do to in his pieces - but there's no slower or faster, no playing with the movement, everything looks the same, like pearls on a string. That may be different in story ballets, but having read the not-so-great reviews about Romeo at Dresden, I don't think so. It looks like the fainthearted middle way between Balanchine and Forsythe, without the structure of Mr. B and without the revolutionary elements of Forsythe. Cold.

[Sabine0308]

@Angela Thanks for the perfect  expression I could not find..."pearls on a string". This bothered me especially in "Voices". I was actually sad, because I had attended a Matinee at Staatsballett Berlin where he spoke so vividly about the creation process during the pandemic and how the dancers longed for going back onstage. How fond he spoke about the dancers, e.g.  Polina Semionova, but also others! Said they created this piece together and how important it felt to create around this topic of human rights especially in these times. So I was looking forward to it (was my first encounter with a Dawson piece). But then, I felt lonely during the performance, no connection.

 

The "Affairs" are indeed beautiful pearls on a string and I love this ballet just because of its artistry. There is no meaning behind, no actual highlight, but both performances I've seen had a (maybe more personal) highlight for me: Shale Wagman's solo parts. He just makes everything special.