Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, 17 June 2008

NDT2 - Mammatus (photo - Daisy Komen)

I HAD looked forward with much anticipation to this performance by “arguably the best contemporary dancers in the world”, having heard rave reviews from those who had attended the company’s last performance in Inverness in 2004. Whilst this ensemble are undeniably masters of form, technique and staging, my first experience of the company left me rather cold.

NDT2 (Nederlands Dans Theater) was founded in 1978 as a training class for the larger NDT1 ensemble. The present NDT2 company consists of sixteen dancers aged between 17 and 23 from all over the world with the expectation of progression to the main company. As an ensemble their highly accomplished technique is breathtaking; however, there were many times during this performance where I felt that groups of dancers were posed for a publicity still. Rather than being “revolutionary” something about the range of movement, even in the work of three completely different choreographers, felt branded.

Dance usually moves me emotionally on some level. It is an immediate form of expression, often more visceral than cerebral at the time of performance. I found images, staging and sequences of movement within each of the works extremely interesting, but was strangely unmoved by the experience as a whole.

The structure of the choreography was richly evident long before I actually felt anything about what I was watching on stage. In recent years the company has been influenced by “contemporary developments in music and art of the 1990’s”. Like a lot of art that defines itself as “now” there seems to be a human element lacking. There are sequences of astonishing beauty in NDT2’s latest programme, but it is like the beauty a perfectly white classical statue – you can’t actually touch it.

“Sleight of Hand”, choreographed by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, is a pure piece of theatre set to the sweeping cycle of woodwind and strings of the second movement of Phillip Glass’s “Symphony No. 2″. The staging is ingenious with two towering figures, one male and one female, confined within their platformed costumes, so that every minute change of posture, balance and gesture are articulated.

The whole work has a Neo-Gothic feel to it, with costumes detailed as if in Victorian mourning. Black is the dominant colour, lit with white or purple light and shadow of movement is used to great effect by Lighting Designer Tom Bevoort. Entry and exit from below the stage add to the sense of the soul’s journey through a kind of dramatic underworld. Heightened facial expressions are an important part of the choreography and the gestural mime-like nature of these movements reminded me a great deal of silent film.

“Dream Play”, choreographed by Johan Inger to Igor Stravinsky’s violent and electrifying “L’Adoration de la Terre ” from “Le Sacre due Printemps” (The Rite of Spring), begins and ends with a single visual cue; a passing woman in a red coat initiates the dreamlike sequence. An erotic and aggressive dance between the sexes follows, echoing the raw energy of Stravinsky’s magnificently charged score. Part seduction, part combat, the perspective is that of the male beholder.

“Mammatus” premiered at The Hague in February 2008, is an interesting conceptual piece by choreographer Medhi Walerski set to a new composition by Dirk Haubrich. The score is minimal, with use of percussive, mechanical and industrial sound that builds as the work progresses. Use of snow, children’s windmills and a gravel pit add to the vista of movement on stage. The flow of paper particles and the dust from the on-stage pit are as much a part of the performance as the dancers.

Laced with surreal humour, the sequence begins and ends with an individual and his boots. The flexibility and artistry of movement by the entire ensemble is showcased by multiple groups on stage that weave between the silent pauses of the composition. There is a sense of space created by this soundscape and the dialogue of movement between the dancers which opens up interpretation of this abstract work.

There is a strange and unexpected sense of continuity in this programme of technique over substance. The company’s statement that their “young dancers are able to mirror the realities of today and incorporate these elements into new productions as a kind of Zeitgeist of the 21st century” is perhaps precisely the reason why this performance didn’t satisfy me.

© Georgina Coburn, 2008

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