Empire Theatre. Eden Court, Inverness, 20 February 2013

AN EXCITED buzz filled the Empire Theatre, thronged with an audience which, while still predominantly female, had a healthy leavening of males by comparison with last year’s debut by this exciting all-male troupe.

FIVE of last year’s company of eight dancers were back, accompanied by five new recruits, whittled down from about five hundred applicants. Business is booming in the male dance world. This year’s programme featured just two works, the first of which was made on the company by Liam Scarlett, still only 26 but already a rising star of the choreographic world. In the video introduction, Scarlett talked about the challenges he’d faced creating a work for an all-male company when usually, the female dancers drive the work.

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Serpent started out mesmerically, the dancers lying prone on the stage, one lifting an arm with the fingers closed, questing almost like a bird, the others joining in. There was almost a hint of Dali’s Swans Reflecting Elephants.

The work continued with the dancers moving fluidly, flowing like herds, or flocks, or hordes of unnameable creatures, with some pleasing segments, of which a quintet against a warm, golden lit background was particularly lovely, and some interestingly sculptural groupings. The dancers were bare-torsoed, clad in flesh-coloured, cut-off leggings; a costume design which focused all attention ruthlessly on their (admittedly impressive) musculature; the overall effect sometimes recalled a classical Greek vase but, more often, a Calvin Klein commercial.

This wouldn’t have mattered had the choreography been a little more inventive; however, by paring the look of the piece down and using a limited repertoire of fluid movements, Scarlett was perhaps overly narrowing his options; despite achieving his aim of creating fluid, beautiful, strong movements, and a sound choice of score by Max Richter, Serpent at times felt slightly empty.

The second half was another new work, Fallen, by Russell Maliphant, a regular collaborator with BalletBoyz. In his video intro he talked about enjoying watching dancers learn from each other, but didn’t mention what must also be true, that choreographers learn from watching dancers.

Having worked for over two decades with some of the greatest dancers alive today, Maliphant has a vast array of choreographic experience to draw on. Opening with a sequence which could have been directed by Busby Berkeley, had he been given the script of The Shawshank Redemption, there was always a tantalising sense that there was a meaning behind the movements with a story unfolding on the bare stage (a factory? a prison? purgatory?) though it was never made explicit.

Maliphant demanded more from the dancers, and got it, with a rich complexity of physical structures, shapes, transitions and textures combining to make a hugely energetic, very satisfying work, of which Michael Hulls’ lighting was, as always, a fundamental part. Minor caveats aside, BalletBoyz are still one of the most exciting dance companies around.

© Jennie Macfie, 2013

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