When one out of two just ain’t at all good
DANCE is never short of doubters and detractors – but it surely doesn’t have to do its best to help them. So what on Earth was Scottish Ballet artistic director Christopher Hampson thinking of when he chose the two works for this double bill at the Edinburgh International Festival? Both are fairly rarely seen; but it is not necessarily a bad thing to present such pieces. Eyes may be opened; jaws may even be dropped. The point is that it can introduce an audience to first-rate works it has never seen before and may never see again.
But the selection of such pieces is key – and that is where Hampson failed miserably. He had to get both right – and he didn’t. Two out of three may not be bad – but one out of two ain’t good.
The night started with the stinker. Even its name was unpromising. MC 14/22 (Ceci est mon corps) just reeks of the pretentious nonsense that so often bedevils the ballet. It refers to the Last Supper, as described in St Mark’s Gospel, Ch14, v22: ‘And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body [ceci est mon corps]”.’
Strangely enough, Jesus himself does not appear in the work, which features 12 male dancers representing the Apostles. This desperate dozen spent the very thick end of the next hour (55 minutes, to be exact) playing out a variety of distasteful scenes of brutality and torture, mostly on stark metal tables. There was the odd touch of tenderness, but very strictly rationed.
Perhaps it was a study in physical surrender, so the body can be reborn anew; resurrected, as it were. Or perhaps it was just a heavily homoerotic exercise in choreographic self-indulgence by its creator, Angelin Preljocaj. The music was even worse than the movement. Discordant and dissonant, Tedd Zahmal’s soundtrack was a scratchy, screechy aural assault. Honestly, there were moments when it was unclear if the production was experiencing major technical problems or if it was actually meant to sound like that.
Although created in 2000, MC 14/22 has been rarely performed. In fact, I believe this was its first presentation in Britain. It may also be its last.
Emergence, however, was a different beast entirely. Many beasts, even, given that its large-scale ensemble performances are based on what one might call ‘the swarm instinct’. Think of huge numbers of bees playing out the never-ending cycle of life in the hive; millions of blind bats flying through black caves, yet never colliding; or those vast clouds of starlings that, as if by magic, paint such wonderful pictures in the sky.
Much shorter than MC 14/22 – though very much better – it rescued the evening from absolute calamity. Although the principals and soloists shone, this was really a work that showcased the entire company – and I mean the entire company.
There is something quite thrilling about seeing dozens of dancers onstage, holding your eye in an almost hypnotic mass of movement, but in perfect, beautiful synchrony. Then you focus on an individual, who is doing exactly the same as the rest, but has somehow managed to distract that previously held eye.
Crystal Pite may sound as though she is a reality TV presenter, but this 45-year-old Canadian choreographer is a force to be reckoned with. Her international reputation is already secure, but is growing with every passing commission.
It was a fine move by Hampson to manage to win the European premiere of Emergence for Scottish Ballet in Edinburgh. It was just such a shame he had to present it alongside something so awful. He really is going to have to sharpen up the consistency of his act.
Scottish Ballet, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh