Preview: Contemporary Dance

Photo: cie ea sola

By Emma Caldwell
 

The final week of Festival 2011 sees two contemporary dance productions arrive in Edinburgh - Ea Sola’s Drought and Rain (re-creation 2011) and Shen Wei’s Re- (I, II, III) / The Triptych.
 

Ea Sola is a French Vietnamese choreographer and Drought and Rain explores consciousness, historical memory and the human cost of the Vietnam War. The piece is hard to define as dance because there is little movement, yet it cannot be called theatre because nobody speaks. This is performance art with cultural importance.
 

The piece was first performed in 1995 and featured a cast of elderly women who were once dancers in their youth. Because of the outbreak of war, they had to abandon their art and pick up guns to help fight for their country, only returning to dance when Ea Sola approached them to perform.
 

The incarnation of Drought and Rain performed at the Festival is a recreation of the original work. Many of the performers from the 1995 production are now too elderly to take part and several have passed away. So, although the work will still explore the same themes as the original, it features younger women with different memories of the war. These women did not fight; instead they consoled injured soldiers and sang to them at the front.
 

Drought and Rain promises deep insight into the history and sufferings of Vietnam, and demonstrates that although we all suffer, we can all learn to forgive.
 

Shen Wei’s Re-Triptych is a three-part contemporary dance piece which takes the audience on a journey through Tibet, Cambodia and China. After spending time travelling along the Silk Road, New York-based Chinese choreographer Shen Wei, drew inspiration from his experiences and created works telling stories of spiritual and geographical homecoming.
 

The first part, Re- (I), features traditional Tibetan chants and a giant mandala made of confetti. During the piece the mandala will be slowly and deliberately destroyed by the dancers, resulting in an ever-changing, unique visual spectacle. Festival audiences are offered the chance to become part of this performance by donating to the Confetti Mandala Appeal, which will support not only this production but the Edinburgh International Festival for years to come.
 

Re- (II) was inspired by Cambodia and includes indigenous folk music in its soundtrack. The influence of the country’s surroundings can be seen in the dancers’ movements as they recreate an atmospheric world of twisted knotted banyan trees and lost temples.
 

The final section, Re- (III) recalls Shen Wei’s home country, China, celebrating its vast and rich cultural history as well as looking forward to its place in the 21st-century and the future. This part features a score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, with ‘found music’ including recorded voices, folk music and environmental sounds, collected by Shen Wei from his travels. The electronic, contemporary soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to the dancers’ movements, which fizz with a frenetic energy and perfectly conjure up a buzzing and busy modern-day China.
 

Both of these original contemporary works promise to take us on a journey of discovery, interpreting unique cultures through movement and music and offering audiences a new perspective on the human condition.
 

Drought and Rain (re-creation 2011)
Ea Sola
 

Thursday 1 – Saturday 3 September
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh
 

Book now at eif.co.uk/drought
 

Re- (I, II, III) / The Triptych
Shen Wei Dance Arts
 

Thursday 1 – Saturday 3 September
The Edinburgh Playhouse
 

Book now at eif.co.uk/retriptych
 

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September. Browse and book online at eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

Review: Sriyah

Photo: Sonia Manchanda

By Mateusz Jażdżewski

I have to be honest; I am not an expert in Indian dance or culture so I can only judge it with my intuition and senses. Śriyah performed by The Nrityagram Dance Ensemble was a spell-binding, colourful show however I struggled at points to make out what it was all about.

The group from India seemed to have taken into consideration that European audiences are not used to their style. Each piece is introduced with a brief explanation of what is going to happen on stage, so the audience gets to know about the Indian traditions and types of classical dance demonstrated. One of the most distinctive dance forms is Odissi. Originating from the Eastern border of India, it was traditionally performed by young women in temples as an act of worship.

The Odissi repertoire consists of various pieces, all of which have a special importance. The movements comprising each piece centre on the Tribhangi stance, meaning independent movement of the head, chest and pelvis. The body is formed into an ‘S’ shape, which creates a sense of balance as the dance is performed. On stage, it looks like ancient temple sculptures have come to life.

Although during the performance the artists explained the different dance forms and the meaning of their movements, I didn’t fully appreciate the show. The dance, music and intimate lighting created an enjoyable spectacle, but it wasn’t sufficient enough to absorb me into their world.

Śriyah

Friday 26 – Monday 29 August
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

Book tickets at eif.co.uk/sriyah.

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September. Browse and book online at eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

Review: Scottish Ballet

Photo: Andrew Ross

By Alice Longhurst

A flock of red costumed Scottish Ballet dancers frolic flat footed to the sublime strains of Mozart’s First Violin Concerto. This is Kings 2 Ends, a stunning new work by Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo, commissioned for the Edinburgh International Festival 2011. Employing unconventional movements which transcend classical restrictions and push the edges of their capabilities, Elo’s dancers engage in a physicality which seems both reassuringly organic and at times even absurd.

During lifts performers bobble their heads from side to side, and accurate group work sequences are broken by robotic chops and whole body undulations, lending the production originality and humour. The influence of Elo’s ice hockey background is obvious here in the speed at which dancers spin around the stage, twisting and gliding rather than using stiff en pointe pirouettes.

Although there is no clear narrative and the sparse costumes and set do not provide much visual information, the choreography and music speak for themselves, engaging the imagination so we form our own conclusions. This is aided by the striking choice of music, with Elo setting Mozart beside Steve Reich’s almost mathematical Double Sextet and using long punctuating silent sequences. The contrast between all three of these elements works well, giving an overall effect which is both exuberant and irreverent.

Balancing Elo’s contemporary work, the second part of the evening is graced by Kenneth MacMillan’s legendary Song of the Earth. The ballet is a physical setting of Mahler’s great song cycle Das Lied von der Erde and the staging is deliberately pared down to allow the dark power of the music to shine through. Dancers share the stage with mezzo soprano Katarina Karnéus and tenor Peter Webb who sing Mahler’s six songs taken from ancient Chinese poetry in the original German.

The poetry and choreography explore the eternal themes of love, death and loss, and this universality works well with both the Chinese motifs in Mahler’s music and the German language adaptations of poems from T’ang dynasty China. Physically, movements crackle with emotional energy, dominated by the ominous central trio - the man, woman and the ever present and benign Messenger of Death.

Although links between the two pieces are hard to spot, the intentionally bold contrasts between and within them are refreshing and feel original. Following on from Elo’s irreverent organic new work, MacMillan’s mighty Song of the Earth seems all the more resonant and poignant. Scottish Ballet’s performance is at once stunning and thought-provoking, proving the company’s ability to excel both in challenging contemporary works and classical masterpieces.

Scottish Ballet

Kings 2 Ends Jorma Elo
Song of the Earth Kenneth MacMillan

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Sian Edwards Conductor

Katarina Karnéus Mezzo soprano
Peter Wedd Tenor

Friday 26 – Sunday 28 August, 7.30pm

The Edinburgh Playhouse

Book tickets at eif.co.uk/scottishballet

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September. Browse and book online at eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

Preview: Sriyah

Photo: Uma Dhanwatey

By Mateusz Jazdzewski

Audiences at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh this weekend will have the chance not only to appreciate beautiful dance but to experience something really special – a performance of classical Indian dance from the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, entitled Śriyah.

When Protima Gauri Bedi founded the group she created something more than just another dance troupe. Nrityagram village is home to a school which welcomes any talented dancers – the school is free to attend but students must commit to daily practice.

Dance in Nrityagram is not only a means of artistic expression, it is a way of life. The students and graduates of the school who live, work and dance in the village are not only fit but fluent in philosophy, literature, spirituality, ethics and music. As a result their dance is intellectually evocative as well as visually attractive.

In her choreography, Protima Gauri always aimed to create the perfect piece and she would not accept any middle ground. This philosophy of perfection has continued at the school and in the ensemble since her death in 1998 and her legacy has not been forgotten.

She was succeeded as artistic director and choregrapher by Surupa Sen, who joined the school as a dancer in 1990 and was one of the first students to complete Protima Gauri’s intensive training programme. Sen is not only a sensitive artist she also works to promote Indian arts all over the world.

The mission of Nrityagram is not to invent new dances but to intelligently connect many existing traditional Indian styles including Odissi, Manipuri and Kathak. This fascinating cultural mix will be central to Śriyah, a programme of five pieces performed by three talented dancers including Surupa Sen herself.

Śriyah
Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Monday 29 August, 8pm
Sunday 28 August, 3pm
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh

Book now at eif.co.uk/sriyah

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September. Browse and book online at eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

This article has also been published on stv.tv which features reviews, previews and features from this year's Festival.

Preview: Princess Bari – drawing comparisons with Pina Bausch

Photo: YoungmoChoi

By Nada Cabani

Pina Bausch, who died just over two years ago, was reknowned as one of the most significant choreographers of our time. Agua, a production by Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, was a sell-out at the 2010 Edinburgh International Festival, and exemplified all that is best in Bausch’s avant-garde productions, where the poetic and playful cohabited in harmony redefining the notion of what dance theatre was about.

Arguably, there has been no choreographer to match Bausch for dramatic showmanship. Except, perhaps, for that of Ahn Eun-Me.  Princess Bari, the hour and a half production showing at The Edinburgh Playhouse this weekend, is the culmination of five decades of Ahn’s work, which sets to reconcile Western and Eastern styles of dance to Korean traditional music.

Where Pina Bausch’s Agua contrasted Brazilian rhythms, beaches and rainforests with dancers who almost playfully led us to the languid sensuality only Bausch could master, Ahn’s Princess Bari promises to ‘create a structure of tensions… rather than merely retell the thorny path of Princess Bari’s life’ – a folk tale which is central to Korean culture. Ahn’s eight dancers, in contrast to Bausch’s motif of words being at the centre of her choreography, express language through the physical form - her exquisite combination of dancing singers and singing dancers harmoniously mingles the physical to the melodious, as in the five traditional Korean instrumentalists used.

Ahn has been dubbed the Pina Bausch of the East and has admittedly been greatly influenced by Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater.  She adores the late German choreographer, whom she knew personally, and believes that the energies of their respective works were on the same level.  Although Ahn’s work is directly inspired by her homeland, the comparison to Bausch’s choreography is evident -  Bausch thrived on pushing the boundaries of human pain, desire or hilarity, and so does Ahn, take for example her decision to cast a male dancer for the female central character, Bari.

If Princess Bari is about the people of Korea, their culture, folk tales and music, it is nonetheless for the people of the world. Although the production symbolizes the vitality of a people overcoming obstacles, armed with the ‘humour and jest’ that Ahn thinks is embedded in her nation’s personality, it equally symbolizes the melting of pots, the meeting of East and West and the universal ‘folk tale’ of humanity. Ahn’s showmanship, like that of Bausch’s, moulds dance theatre from the particular to respond and embrace the universal, beyond it. Or as goes the adage: we are now all Koreans, or as Yeats so exquisitely put it:

“O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?”  

Princess Bari

Eun-Me Ahn Company

Friday 19 – Sunday 21 August, 7.30pm, The Edinburgh Playhouse

Book now at eif.co.uk/bari or call Hub Tickets on 0131 473 2000

The Edinburgh International Festival runs from 12 August – 4 September. Browse and book online at eif.co.uk or call 0131 473 2000.

This article has also been published on stv.tv which features reviews, previews and features from this year’s Festival.