Contemporary Dance: So What's Up With That, Then?

The one piece that I really liked (besides the piece that HSA collaborated on, of course) was the only one that seemed to have some sort of narrative, even if it was just dancers stepping on random triggers of samples and dancing to the resulting sounds.

(Although I'd really like to read a post by someone who knows a lot about it.)

Perhaps my resistance to non-narrative ballet is related to my resistance to non-representational or abstract art? (But I am prepared to accept non-representational art if I perceive it as "beautiful" or rather textural.)

The only contemporary ballet piece that I'd really ever seen and genuinely liked was The Catherine Wheel, which, although abstract, managed to have a narrative structure. (Then again, how do we define "contemporary"? Because century old ballets like The Rite of Spring are pretty non-traditional, although also narrative.)

There are many pure dance interludes within "classical" ballet which are abstract to the point where they look like Busby Berkeley sequences. So maybe it's not an abstraction/narrative thing either.

Hrmmmmm. I wish I knew what I was talking about.

i think i would feel the same as you here - i like the sound of the above even. i suppose i look for narrative structure in most art and feel that a lot of stuff that lacks or chooses not to include it is quite pointless to me.

And when I still did Eurythmy, I suppose it was about interacting with the, um, etheric.

"I don't know much about dance, but I know what I like..."

The embarrassing is, watching the new Baby Spice song on TV, I find myself entranced by it every time, not because I like the song (the riff is kinda catchy, but otherwise, it's just mumrock) but because her backing dancers are SO GOOD. She was talking about them on one programme, saying "Oh yeah, they're all professional dancers from the West End" and I had always completely discounted that style of dancing, thinking, well, it's neither Ballet nor Contemporary Dance, but it's really very entertaining to watch.

This was the discussion that I hoped people would get into on this thread - dancing (rather like sport) is something that I can definitely see the appeal of *participating in* but I can rarely see the appeal of *watching* other people participate in it. The answer, maybe, with dance as in sport, is the idea that it is pleasant to watch people who are much better at it than you are, who are able to perform feats you wish you were capable of?

Let's talk about other kinds of dance. It's so funny, dancing has become such a routine part of pop, and of performance, and of videos, etc. - yet we'll talk about dance music all the time, yet we never talk about dance.

When was the last time that you actually noticed a dance, to the point that it hightened your enjoyment of music, video, etc?

Stevem, may I ask why? Why does it annoy you? Is dancing not an appropriate reaction to/accompaniment to music? Is it because you don't like the dancing in question? Or some other reason?

Saw Out of Context last night. Really something. Would recommend anyone to go to the last performance of this in London tonight (was thinking of going again but cannot).

I let the music be my guide. As far as narrative, it was nothing but a 'rehearsal', of sorts. But it was the music that provided the drive for the 90 minutes: this piece was in three clearly marked segments.

Interesting also that so many different types of sounds were present and danced/moved to under one roof, at a time when music is so fragmented. Then again contemporary dance appears to also be another tiny scene, though crucially removed anyone music scene, hence the relaxed nature.

To get off the music, it must be one hell of a thing to choreograph. Were there particular patterns to the body movements from one scene to the next? The overall idea (on that link) is fair enough, but why does a dancer do one thing and nother something else?

I enjoyed this quite a bit...

'though crucially removed from any particular music scene', that should say..

I'm insanely Jealous but i'm glad you enjoyed this. i will see it later in the year even if i have to go to Leipzig to see it, i WILL see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05N_N5coYFI

as far as the music goes this is the first C de La B for a long time that has not been set to live music. the one from last year, "Ashes", was mostly set to songs from Handel as well as some percussion - the stunning thing here is that the musicians and the singers are part of the action/ choreography itself - this is the standard working method for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyQrK_Q2HOo

the previous piece, Pitié, was set to a kind of reinvention of Bach's Matthew Passion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m44zLklrWTE

Platel, who made Pitié and Out of Context is not a trained dancer or choreographer, in fact he worked with disabled children (you can see the moves from this in his work to this day) and set up the company as a response to a challenge from a friend of his. he called the company "Les Ballets Contemporains de la Belgique" as a joke and put on a show in his house - that was 25 years ago.

as far as trying to work out why one dancer is doing a specific thing, i'm not sure (i actually rarely think about this when i see dance) but the rehearsal thing is key - these works are devised over quite long periods of, say, eight months, with one concentrated period of devising taking up the last two or three months. platel would be more a co-ordinator rather than a choreographer in the traditional sense. the whole thing being basically improvised along lines or concepts set by him in rehearsals then shaped by him and pretty much fixed before the production starts although there are probably small areas where change/improv can and will happen each night.

Thanks for all the youtube links jed - will check those out later, as well as read the programme notes which will hopefully clarify some other things.

I was trying to see patterns to the dancing. That was me looking for context (on a show called Out of Context, yeah) to the moves instead of maybe just enjoying both the dancing and the movement (which I actually did) and er, one particular dancer :-)

I missed the Bach piece, I think..

the back piece was at sadlers last year. they very rarely revive work, alas.

Step-by-step guide to dance: Les Ballets C de la B

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/may/05/ballets-c-de-la-b

"Always interested in the psychological motivation of movement, he takes as his starting point the connection between the words choreography and chorea, the latter a medical term for a dysfunction of the nervous system, which leads to rapid hysteric movements of the body."

they very rarely revive work, alas.

Is that unusual among dance companies? It would be good to see some of the older stuff some day, to give some history...

From that guardian piece it seems their work concentrated on music up to 19th century. This one was either lots of distorted microphoned grunts and the middle section was electronic music with a Karaoke of pop hits. V funny and not as gimmicky as it might sound.

Yeah that provides some context but I'm not sure why they would switch from that to very non-hysteric dancing at some points.

I was possibly overthinking all of this.

I got hold of the programme but haven't read it.

i think the non-revival thing is typical and partly associated with funding, as well as just, probably, being eager to do the next thing.

there's a revival of all three parts of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's trilogy in Paris happening in July. i wish i could go to that!

http://www.villette.com/fr/parc-villette-agenda/spectacles-tous/sidi__larbi_cherkaoui-triptyque.htm

not sure how contemporary it is, but i'm supposed to see Alvin Ailey this wknd. never seen em before which i've heard is a shame.

review of "out of Context" in the observer confirms my suspicion that the only thing reviewers do these days is tell you that things, even good things, are "too long". kindly fk off w/ this. critics never ever engage with exploring why things might be the length they are. talking of the 3 hour VSPRS he says "it didn't seem to be anybody's job to cut the productions to a digestible length". Dance productions are NEVER 3 hours long (less than an hour is usual) - does he not suspect that they wanted to make a 3 hour show for a reason? and that confounding or even boring the audience might be part of the intention?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/jun/20/out-of-context-pina-platel-luke-jennings

"confounding, boring or even alienating", rather.

i didn't see VSPRS but i know that it's an extremely long show with protracted repetitive movement sequences.

work should only be as long as it needs to be to keep the audience entertained, any longer than that and yr in trouble.

aside from that, Luke Jennings, keep up the good work. if i ever want a superficial description of what happens in a show preceded by a short overview of the company's recent productions you'll be the first man i come to.

The people who sat next to me did ask whether there would be an interval. When I said no and that it was to be 90 mins with no interval they gave what I thought as a disapproving look.

I don't know what length dance pieces are but for me it was absolutely no problem at all.

People sat around me really got into the 'disco' sequence! Not as 'fractured' at all or 'excruciating' in the least. It gave a shape to the thing and out-of-body dancing was perfect, its that dancing that looks alienated from the music and yet completely in tune with, tapping into an energy that the body hasn't quite synchronized with, somehow - this is scratchily explained but its the best I can come with so far. xxp

Some of the microphone work reminded me of Mauricio Kagel's anti-opera, maybe some Stockhausen: haven't pulled out the pieces that it reminded me off yet.

a whole 90 minutes!

that must be the "belgian time" LJ refers to in his review.

Oh so 90 mins is normal.

The 'Belgian time' has hints of anti-Europeanisms whenever I read an English review of a 'challenging' work of classical music from the continent. xp

50-70 minutes is pretty normal. i've seen shows 30 minutes long but usually two pieces together with a break might last longer.

90 minutes could be considered long but part of the the reason for this is that smaller companies are typical and that, understandably, it's hard for performers in small groups to work at a high level for extended periods, it takes a lot out of them.

i suppose that has seeped into audience expectation of how long shows tend to last. works of over two hours are almost unheard of but c de la b work with casts large enough that some of them can "rest" during the show, without you particularly being aware of it. Out of Context is a pretty stripped back show but, as you can imagine, it still costs a lot to mount even a show like this one where there are a lot of people involved. the Belgian companies are very well funded.

also the "devised" nature of the shows means they cost more. everyone involved in a show like this forms it, in a sense, to the rehearsal/development times are 4 months plus. that's a lot of cash.

"to" = "so"

Wanna go, not sure I have enough energy right now:

http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Tanztheater-Wuppertal-Pina-Bausch

i think it may be sold out - returns only. you don't need much energy though, it's pretty energising!

j, you should check out the new forced ent. at the same place as last time. it runs until next saturday, i think? i was considering coming down for it but i'm snowed under with work (designing an all-male production of Genet's "The Maids", fun!)

Crazy that its sold out!

Thx for the Forced ent. tip! Sounds really good, actually.

(Good luck w/The Maids, oddly enough I'm about to give Genet's Funeral Rites a read soon.)

"The Thill of it All!" great title but bit as great a "Bloody Mess". let me know what you think, if you see it. I might be able to sneak a trip to Manchester to see it, if it's good.

but not as great*

Just reading an article about Les Ballets C de la B's Gardenia. Check for tickets later, will probably go...

see, you saw "out of context"!

Yeah...weird how I didn't remember the other day but it all came flodding back when I looked at this!!

Anyone seeing this doc on contemp dance on bbc four? Only half-watching but some of this is really gd -- esp the Indian dancer talking about her formative experience at the cinema that led her to aspire to a life in dance -- won't spoil for those who have not seen.

damn, i forgot. suppose i can iplayer it though. when are you seeing Gardenia?

Really wanna see this:

http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Matthew-Bournes-Play-Without-Words

Love the film.

This as awesome - had this trick of playing a scene with multiple actors playing the same role(s) to engineer choreography: real pay-off in the master and servant scene in the juxtaposition of gestures to highlight that relationship dynamic and totally uncovers the sexual subtext at the heart of The Servant (film and script).

Sasha Waltz is awesome! On for a couple more days at Sadler. Dance pieces to Xenakis and Varese: she is completely attuned to - and in turns it tunes us to - the downright strange and absurd rhythms of Varese.

The second half had a dance piece to Claude Vivier's music - someone I once loved but have neglected for a long time now, and how stupid that is of me! I love how expressive and yet utterly romantic he is. The dance to it was best of all - hard to describe and find words for but really fucking incredible.

wowzers. wish i had seen!

i saw the Michael Clark company's New Work the last two nights. really amazing. first half was music by relaxed muscle. the second half was scritti politti with the band on stage playing live.

i met both Michael Clark and Green Gartside at a party later after the show. kind of overwhelming. both amazing gentle men.

Excellent - going to try and catch that @ The Barbican.

the barbican show has relaxed muscle live and recorded scritti fyi.

I just looked at what relaxed muscle ws...not sure this is so good now but I'll go anyway.

Michael Clarke was like an angel. almost overwhelmingly, powerfully gentle.

xpost the relaxed muscle music was great. i think you will like it, j.

plus you'll be able to go to that rain room thing at the barbican which looks like something.

j, i just emailed you something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=160_fRFWzlU

i saw this last month, loved it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3wGZffB8mo

Saw Akram Khan's iTMOi last night, show partly based on Strav's Rite.. which opened with a gothic/metal number...the 60-ish fella next to me was digging it (really Sadler W => my kind of place) and moved through the musical gears...classical to electronic to some French medieval parody, the oboes of the Rite make an appearance as the couple do a final dance, starkers n' all.

A good time was had by all..

Saw Nederlands Dans Theater's "Sehnsucht" and "Schmetterling" (also their intermission!), awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uetgzFvgeA

Wanna see:

http://vimeo.com/39033556

IS THERE MOAR?

Saw this last night:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10649249/Opus-Circa-and-Debussy-String-Quartet-Barbican-Centre-review.html

Completely extraordinary. Half way between contemporary dance and circus acrobatics.

Julio, are you going to see les ballets c de la b at sadlers next week? because you really should :)

oh hi Jed - totally missed your post - I didn't :-(

But I did see Olivier Dubois last night and I have to say this was one of the best shows. The reviewer is clearly stumped by the repetition but doesn't mention how the pieces gradually changes before becoming a piece of fluid, organised chaos, and you end up forgetting they are all naked once the piece gets going.

jed if you come to London over the summer to see anything let me know :)

j, i'm coming next week 17th-22nd to see the drowned man and ivo van hove's view from a bridge. the latter is sold out - i may also check out the chris marker exhibition at whitechapel - have you seen that?

No, not yet - going to see it with another friend but don't mind seeing this again with different perspective.

Out soon for the day, be in touch to organise, be good to see you again as its been a while.

i saw a really great performance by a dancer called yu kimura recently. im not knowledgable about contemporary dance but i guess it was a kind of post-butoh thing, very slow, deliberate movements and not at all aggresive/camp like butoh can be. she was accompanied by tetuzi akiyama playing acoustic guitar, in an amazing old nagaya in the middle of kanda, tokyo. he was quietly playing long scratchy drones and plucked feldmanian sequences with kimura kind of gracefully stalking ghosts about the room, natural light gently fading, crows cawing outside, decaying into silence

that sounds great!

missingNO - reminded me of this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5dz_1meBjY

(jed - emailed)

yes similar to db's work with min tanaka, but the accompaniment much quieter. the way the dancer's movement sounded out as loudly as the actual musical accompaniment was really interesting to me, the squeaking of the floor boards, hands and feet feeling out the space. the sound of movement afforded equal status as the sound of music

i really like that bailey/tanaka record music & dance, the one with the lengthy rain storm

Yeah its a beautiful release - might put that on sometime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgG8HnL65yE

^^^ Stunning, deserves better than to be pass by uncommented.

Anyone familiar with butoh?

It’s a strange medium, really, because ultimately you can’t abstract the body, which is what they are trying to do.

Interview with Michael Clark. Like the healthy disregard..

AMAZING *contains nudity*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9LCu1w-ByY

ACTUALLY please don't watch that one ^^^ watch this

https://vimeo.com/channels/1166785/190056876

that one really gets O_O about five and a half minutes in

the bit with the leg at 12 minutes!

amazing about Greece, i think!

this is incredible... overwhelming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0zqQxz4DHs

thank you

You're very welcome! <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9IxogvCvxo

That was beautiful -- where contemporary and hip hop collide.

really great. Murmuration as a phenomenon and as a concept-driver seems to be having a moment.

I cannot believe it's taken me this long to realize how badly I miss dance.

42-44 seconds in that is my favourite part.

God, I miss it too.

The video I linked a few months ago has been removed from Youtube (because of copyright for My Way, possibly?) but you can view it here. It's incredibly moving, imo.

Celui qui tombe - Yoann Bourgeois

https://www.facebook.com/earways/videos/854925391355980

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to tune in, but: https://sfist.com/2021/04/01/springtime-palate-cleanser-swan-lake-outdoor-ballet-on-the-sf-bay/