Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother, the Choreographer’s Cut is raw energy – an electric, vibrant, soul shaking collage of music and dance with a feel of a rock gig. It completely transforms a dance house like Sadler’s Wells to a rock concert venue where the music will keep you on your feet, than sit and calmly watch. Instead of reflecting intellectually the audience will want to shake and thump their feet to the beating drums and match the energy of the performers on stage. This sets Schetcher’s Political Mother in a completely different genre of dance works.

The show opens big with 24 musicians on stage, set in split levels. On the ground there is a long row of percussionists. Above this there is a row of strings. Even higher there are drums of different sizes, guitars and a rock singer blaring out loud through his microphone, an indistinctive sound. The total picture is a  grandiose setting  of sheer size, aura, and volume. The music with it’s imposing arrangement and choreography on stage is the winning trump of the show. It does half the job of drawing the audience in to an Odyssey of sound, light and visuals.

The remaining half is Shechter’s astonishing choreography that has already placed him as  one of the most overwhelming choreographers in UK today. He started with a bang  in 2004 when he created the sextet Cult commissioned by the Place Prize. It did not take him long to draw international attention to his very signature style which is a choreographic play of physical movement and captivating score, most of which is created by himself. This, Shechter says is inspired by the technique of film editing which can miraculously involve the audience in what they are watching rather than reflecting from a distance. Shechter loves cinema and it is this trick of editing that he uses in his presentation. Shechter has used 16 dancers who storm the stage  with their ferocious animal energy. They appear to be raving mad when they attack with their movements. The dance completely complements the huge sound. It creates an effect of being in a closed space with accelerated vibration, soon to explode and throw you out in the space where after the boom there is calm and a tranquil high! This is the feel at the end of the show when you leave the house – you come out all charged up, but feeling smooth on the high!

The ambience has got much to do with the superb lighting design by Le Curran. He has done an astounding job in bringing out the mood of the presentation with his clever play of half lit and sometimes an almost dark stage.  Suddenly springs to  life and energy  by flooding in a bright wash – quietly boosting the heavy drums when they kick in!

The show flows through a collage of music and dance stringed with the mysteries of the human behaviour, the instincts that guide us through the cycle of life. One predominant instinct being the ferocious urge to fight back and extricate ourselves when captive, whether in a physical prison or within the norms of modern living!

Political Mother – The Choreographer’s Cut, a staggering achievement after a tremendous effort from the entire cast almost on a war footing. Led by Shechter, they steered their path through highs and lows and anointed the flag of modern dance in the Shechter style!

                                                                                        Protima Chatterjee

A huge flock of pearl white swans gliding into a lake on a glistening moonlit night- a breathtaking scene that has captivated millions of spectators around the globe every time Swan Lake has been staged over the last 135 years. This opening scene of  Act 2, looks more imposing in the English National Ballet’s production at the Royal Albert Hall – the round stage, open at all sides adds a different dimension to the lake motif. This is where Derek Deane’s superb choreography departs from traditional Swan Lake productions. The round space enables the cast to face each section of the audience and provides visual depth.

Tamara Rojo, also the artistic director of the company, is the swan princess on the opening night. She brings in one of her best performances. Her otherwise petite structure is magnified by the allure of her postures. She is graceful and pure as Odette, the swan princess and dark and dazzling as Odile, the black swan. She is a diva who portrays the two characters with ease and sophistication. The vibrance of her presence pulls her out of the group of swans as she flies past lifted in air by her prince or engages in elegant ‘fouettes’ circling the space with perfect precision.

Matthew Golding- a guest artist from the Dutch National Ballet debuts with the company in this production as prince Siegfried.  He is an impressive, handsome dancer whose body speaks technique. His agile flights in the air and brisk movement make up for his shortcomings of facial expression. The emotions that Rojo evoke complement the strength of technique by her counterpart to present some remarkable moments of pas de deux.

Villanous, socerer Rothbart, played by James Streeter wears huge bird like wings which he waves across the floor and runs round at each entry and before leaving the stage storming past casting an evil spell. His dappled winged costume adds to the spectacle.

The dancers of the English National Ballet have done a splendid job. Selected from dancers across different parts of the world, their performance is of the highest standard. Apart from putting together this impressive international ensemble the English National Ballet is also working tirelessly extending opportunities to young aspiring dancers generating new interests in the world of classical ballet.

Swan Lake – in the round is a production not to be missed. Audience will be dazzled by the opulence, glitter, and magnitude of the spectacle. It’s classical Swan Lake presented with a Derek Dean touch – diferent from a conventional ballet performance.

                                                                                        Protima Chatterjee

Zero is a new production by Clod Ensemble- the company whose work is a path breaking amalgam of physical theatre, dance and live music. Zero adds another jewel to its crown. A Sadler’s Wells commission,  it is directed and choreographed by Suzy Willson, set to music by Paul Clark. Wilson and Clark  are also the co-artistic directors of the company. Zero, is a five act show that dwells on the core of human passions of jealousy, desire and ambition depicted through the dynamics of nature and weather in particular.

Zero has a cast of 10 dancers, who draw their expertise from varied performing arts backgrounds. This adds multiple layers, enhancing the richness of the production. Different shades, shapes and forms merge into one in the space when they move together- in alignment or disperse in the choreography. The 7 musicians ease you into a  dream soundscape with their blues tunes, The music sets the mood of the show, going hand in hand with the choreography yet lending a lighter touch setting the perfect balance and pace to the experience as a whole.

A projection screen comes to life between each act and leads you into the next. It serves as an introduction to the force of nature that  leads to the  subsequent acts. An audio comes into play at these junctures. They are clips from old news material or acts from plays. Tracks overlap to present an audio collage taking the mood of confusion a few notches higher -. There are voice overs, custom made for the show, pre recorded from a script which feeds in to the cycle of thoughts on which the choregraphy is based.

Act one begins with geometric patterns of movements that break in haphazard asymmetry. There is the play of power and politics. There is rift and division leading to turmoil. Everything falls apart; the net result of human life is ‘Zero’. Act two brings in romanticism, a human passion similar to rain wind and mist from the nature perspective. There is flirting, desire, new relationships ending in quick breakups. Men and women resort to animal instincts. There is no trust or faith in each other. All that remains is an undying need to quench the thirst of desire. Movements for this section are based on pelvic thrusts and hip sways in the most graceful form, with finish and perfection. The choreography is brilliantly in sync with the underlying theme.

Act three begins more like a brewing kettle, bubbling with a shaking lid ready to be kicked off by the gathering steam. It exposes a boiling pot of stormy relationships where some chauvinist men take the upper hand and women sting back. Act four rolls in as a calmer and sets pace for the final act. Families break, values shatter, rivalries grow between siblings, disagreements between parents and young adults lead to frustration and confusion. The windy rainy day moves into stormy darkness, living becomes a challenge,  a struggle  to co-exist.

Zero is a tumultuous production that brings the audience to face the unsavoury facets of life. It effortlessly erases boundaries between the arts while posing existential questions which we are often reluctant to face up to. It’s a work that keeps our souls alive and makes us desire life beyond the hardships, a clear sky and a calm ocean in the end.

                                                                                    Protima Chatterjee

Sylvie Guillem, a true dance goddess on stage! Her allure, grace and versatility leave her audience numb – eyes forget to blink, its the sheer awe of watching Guillem dance. In her artistic journey spanning for about 3 decades, she has worked with renowned choreographers, performed with innumerable companies and collaborated with dancers and film makers. Guillem returns to Sadler’s Wells with her ‘6000 miles away’ which premiered in 2011, featuring three pieces – Bye, Rearray and 27’52”.

‘Bye’ the closing piece of the evening, is a solo by Guillem, choreographed by Mat Eks.  It is based on Beethoven’s last piano sonata. Apart from being an outstanding piece of choreography and performance, it is a testimony of technological brilliance. It’s the high point where the energies of the two spheres – artistic creativity and technology, brush against each other resulting in a work of high art.

There is a white rectangular projection screen about 7 feet tall on which a zoomed in eye is trying to look out of a keyhole. As it zooms out we see Guillem…this is where ‘Bye’ begins. The projection screen appears to be a white boxlike space from where Guillem is gazing at the outside world – a little eager to step out. Along with curiosity there is fear of the unknown. She makes the first few hesitant but measured moves. She starts by trying to climb out from the top. We see Guillem’s head out from behind the top of the screen while the rest of her body remains within the screen (a pre filmed section). Here lies the mastery of coordination and timing. Its this play of reel and real that takes the piece to a surreal plane. This is followed by parts of Guillem’s body flickering out of the screen until she manages to completely squeeze out – her first full physical appearance on stage for this piece.

The rest of the piece leads to this lonesome sole exploring around her newly discovered space. She crosses paths with the projection screen which is trying to pull her back in. She resists with her inner strength personified by intense movements. Sometimes with a heavy gust of energy or a subtle tricky move she manages to keep herself out. Towards the end of the piece there starts appearing on the projection screen few others who look out to her. To us its blank gaze, but holds a message for Guillem. She has explored, now its time to return. She gets back in and what we now see is a pre filmed concluding part on the projection screen. She gradually merges with the crowd and is lost in her own space. We assume that the person who was with us for that brief moment has found the answers to her questions.

The piece produces an outflow of emotions that form a third layer, perhaps, in the human body under the flesh and the network of veins carrying the crimson blood. Had emotion been only a natural instinctive state of the mind then each muscle of Guillem’s body would not speak. Its the strength of Ek’s choreography that stirs that layer of emotion to project the idea of the piece. Guillem is a gifted dancer with a perfect body. Through her body, simple moves transform to magnificent forms, bringing an edge to her dance.

‘Rearray’ by William Forsythe is about strong technique that is flawlessly executed by Guillem and her partner Massimo Murru in the piece. An austere set up projecting a serious focus on movement. There is no strict narrative that the piece follows. It possibly suggests rearranging sets of movements to produce a fine piece of art.

‘27’52”’ the opening piece of the evening is performed by Aurelie Cayla and Lukas Timulak who bring with them a different dimension of movements. Set to an electronic score which is unrecognizably based on themes by Gustav Mahler, this piece is a contrast to the mood of the remaining evening. Choreographed by Jiri Kylian, ‘27’52”’ is a good filler but could not hold its might to ‘Bye’, as by the end of the show it fades away from the audience’s memory.

‘6000 miles away’ is based on Guillem’s belief that distance cannot end the admiration you might have for someone. It is not important for you to be physically near, to like someone. Most importantly, she named this production as an offering of respect to the victims of the Tsunami in Japan that happened as she was rehearsing with Forsythe in London. 6000 miles away is an extraordinary homage and a remarkable presentation which permanently places Guillem in the hearts of her audience.

                                                                                        Protima Chatterjee

Puse/Kadam connects South Asian dance and music to the community. While retaining its South Asian/Indian roots Pulse/Kadam has over the years succeeded in connecting with various other international art forms. Unlocking Creativity Shorts (UC Shorts) is one of its best productions that provides a platform for contemporary work in dance. The collaborative format encourages experimentation between different forms and techniques that stretches the boundaries of  cultural and artistic expression.

This year’s UC shorts showcased 5 hand picked pieces creating magic on the floor of the Luton Hat Factory. The evening started with a piece called “Brief Moment” by Spridoula Dance. Choreographed and performed  by dancer Nikki Bakolis-a contemporary and Bharatnatyam dancer, in accompaniment to live music by cellist/composer Ellen Jordan, the piece explores the relationship between a dancer and her counterpart on stage, which in this case was Ellen on cell. The relationship shared by the two performers using two different forms of art create a unique vocabulary of movement and sound. It brings in immense possibilities of performance through sharing each others positive energy in the course of their choreographic journey.

This was followed by an enchanting piece called Darshan by Divya Kasturi – a dancer trained in several Classical Indian Dance forms, vocal music and physical theatre. In her piece Kasturi “encounters the divine and demonstrates the power and attraction of Bharatnatyam”, a beautiful deviation amidst contemporary presentations. “Darshan” projects a celestial atmosphere flowing through energetic movements put together with grace and almost speaking facial expressions by the traditionally costumed Kasturi.

Ashima Suri, an Indo-contemporary dance artiste performed excerpts from  her “Ashes and Rebirth”, a forthcoming production. Her performance was in complete contrast to the evenings other performances. Ashima’s performance was pure energy and power unrestrained by inhibitions. Ashima was all set out to open her mind out to the audience and her vivid movements connected the audience to her emotions. She potrays “a story of a woman who through the reflection of herself in the painting, begins to shed the many layers and expectations of herself to the point where all that is left are ashes”. But her journey does not end here. She rises again. It’s the strength of being a woman.

The variety of the evening keeps unfolding when the next in line is ‘In’ versus ‘Un’ by Khavita Suri. A piece with a very modern approach where there is a clever play of dialogue that seamlessly blends into dance. The piece highlights the dichotomies of modern urban living- between chasing material well being and seeking spiritual comfort, ignorng the uncertainities that also exist, unwilling to take risks  But at times these uncertainities might excite us and we are left to juggle between the two sides of the rift. Kaur, a very lively performer arrests the audiences attention and brings in a touch of humour to the evening.

The evening’s crowning glory is guest artiste Kalpana Raghuraman’s “The Spirit of Frida”. This was premiered at the Epic Women Conference in Chennai. Depicted through powerful dance, film projection and mime,  the performance narrates the struggles of legendary mexican painter and activist Frida Kahlo. Its high on emotion and tugs at the audience’s  heart strings. Raghuraman is a performer of repute, and her strong stage presence complements her superb performance to create an unforgettable experience for the audience.

Unlocking Creativity Shorts is a bold and innovative platform that creates a canvas splashed with a rainbow variety of dance techniques, cultures, art forms and artistes providing a memorable experience to the audience.

                                                                                                    Protima Chatterjee

A weekend of Hip hop transforms the ambience of Sadler’s Wells once every year since 2004. This year was no exception. Started by Jonz D in association with Sadler’s Wells, Breakin Convention, is an international festival of Hip hop Dance theatre and a tribute to popular youth culture of today. It has incubated many Hip hop artistes helping them onto the stepping stones of success and stardom in their careers.

In keeping with the informal street origins of this dance form, every attempt is made to create a lighter atmosphere. The front rows of the house are removed to make room for a free standing audience – those who cannot help swaying to the music. This gives a complete night out feel with dance that throws out sheer energy.

This year’s presentation took place over the weekend of 4th March. There was a big line up of Hip hop groups and solo performers from across the country and also from outside the UK. Companies like Avant Garde Dance, Boy Blue Entertainment, Compagnie Revolution, Grounded, Jukebox Collective and many others were amongst the UK based groups. On the other hand Project Soul Collective from Korea, Next Level Squad from USA and Zamounda from France were the visiting groups. Each performance brought with them something new to wow the audience.

Comprising of an international cast of five differently-abled dancers- the Ill abilities crew is amazing. All of them have overcome a disability to become winners on stage and in life. Sergio Carvajal, Redouan Ait Chitt, Tommy Ly, Jacob Lyonsand and Puca Patuelli have used the freedom of movement and choreography to transform their insecurities, doubts and adversities into determination and power to take them forward in life. Their performance takes the audience on a journey through their minds in a unique language of dance. A very emotional piece that brings the audience to their feet at the end.

A review of this festival will not be complete without the mention of the “10Tens” choreographed by Vicky Mantey and Bruno Perrier. This is a special presentation to celebrate the 10th anniversary where 10 budding ten year old Hip hop dancers are brought together from across the country to perform this special piece to celebrate the occasion.

Breakin Convention is an electric celebration of a dance form that grew out of a popular street culture. It focusses on celebrating popular urban youth culture. Its success lies in its effortless mixing of an informal night-out feel with a formal stage performance.

                                                                                                        Protima Chatterjee

It was an enchanting experience at Sadler’s Wells watching Puz/zle choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Cherkaoui is one of the most prolific contemporary dancers/choreographers today who has created groundbreaking works of critical acclaim like Sutra, zero degree and most recently, TeZukA. Composed with 11 outstanding dancers from his Eastman company, Puz/zle is his most contemporary work.  Puz/zle “questions the seeming importance of order and linearity, and explores if there is more than one way of solving a puzzle, telling a tale and simply living”.

The chirping of crickets and stones on the stage create the perfect environment and invite curiosity in the mind of the audience as they settle in and listen to the stories from the stones.

The dream sequence like video projection  of endless rooms recedes to allow the dancers dressed in black, who moving busily like ants, appear from nowhere only to hurl themselves repeatedly against the door. The ants then make their way through stones, crawling up the stairs created, falling down but getting up again and in the process moving from disorder to linear discipline, from chaos to control.

The stones are the defining elements in this choreography.The stones make the walls move around the dancers, creating a constant churning of space enabling them to explore what is possible with their bodies.

Through the choreography Cherkaoui tries to discover new ways of engaging groups and natural leadership. On stage the dancers are continuously losing and discovering information. When a character finds something everyone follows, until another character finds something new for the group to switch and follow the new discovery. This process of progression through interconnected discoveries continues endlessly, possibly questioning linear thought and problem solving methods.

We see the very busy dancers  on stage for almost 2 hours, painting the stage with different pictures with smooth flowing movements.

The musicians – The drums, the flute, the enchanting Lebanese voice, take the choreography to a higher plane. Corsican polyphonic group A Filetta, Lebanese singer Fadia Tomb E-Hage and Japanese musician Kazunari Abe create the perfect backdrop to Cherkaoui’s choreography.

Cherkaoui’s concepts are realised  beautifully by  the ensemble of talented dancers and superb musicians, keeping the audience entertained while at the same time questioning status quo thoughts in their minds.

                                                                                                                Sharmi Roy

The Rite of Spring (composed by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky in 1913 for the Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes) is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion Sadler’s Wells has commissioned the ” String of Rites “series. Michael Keegan-Dolan’s Double Bill The Rite of Spring and Petrushka, performed by his Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, is the opening performance of the trio and was on for a 3 nights run 11 – 13 April at the Sadler’s Wells.

Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre is described as “one of the most daring and highly original dance theatre companies in the world”. It is an international ensemble based in county Longford, Ireland, led by founder and artistic director Michael Keegan-Dolan. From his previous works, Keegan-Dolan is known for his fast and furious approach, bold and sharp in his presentations. He took on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring as a commission from the English National opera in 2009, and when asked if he had felt any apprehension on doing so he said “You jump, and then its like swimming the English Channel. You’ve just got to keep swimming”.

The rhythmic complexity of Stravinsky’s music piece and the numerous prior  choreographic interpretations make any new attempt challenging. Keegan-Dolan takes up this challenge and delivers one of the finest, thought provoking choreographies on Stravinsky’s music. Rite of Spring was intended to shock and awe a sophisticated middle class Parisian audience at the turn of the century. Fertility rites and ancestor worship, already concepts of the past were replaced with themes of fear – of the changing seasons, of violence, of death. Due to this nature of the presentation it was not a very welcoming experience to its audience in 1913. But today a contemporary audience is more receptive to a Keegan-Dolan interpretation of immense energy and vitality, the human urge for exploration and change

Keegan-Dolan has revisited his Rite of Spring version of 2009 for this performance. This time, through a cast of  6 male and 6 female dancers as opposed to 11 male and 3 female, he strikes a balance which has an underlying social hint of today’s world being equally shared by the two genders. He also clads his male dancers in girly floral short loose dresses along with the female dancers in part of his choreography. This blurs the gender division, leaving the space for the all powerful unifying creative energy. There is a sequence where the dancers both male and female are down on the stage floor, have intercourse with the ground, depicted through a brilliant set of choreographic movements . The imagery draws from an ancient Irish belief that a king on his coronation would engage in matrimony with mother earth which in turn would lead to a great yield of crops, failing which disaster would strike and the king would have to abdicate. This again can be looked at as power and right being uniformly distributed between men and women in  present times.

In the second piece -Petrushka,  Keegan-Dolan’s interpretation departs farther from the the original – Nijinski’s famed presentation of 1911. There are no sad puppets or a slaying of Petrushka. What we see is a more optimistic interpretation with a white stage and 10 dancers dressed in white. Each dancer tries to rise above and reach the world beyond. In the end its the chosen one that transcends, cleverly depicted by the dancer climbing up a rope ladder while the rest of the group gather around rejoicing at the ascent.

The choice of the two pieces Rite and Petrushka lend a perfect contrast in  light and colour. Rite opens with a bleak, wintery scene, gradually moving towards light, ending in a bright orange hue, welcoming the advent of Spring. Petrushka starts bright, more of a pure steel white continuing through, till in the end the white drops entirely exposing a pitch black. Rite is about darker elemental forces, about power and  violence while Petrushka is about hope and salvation to eternity.

The two pieces are danced in perfect rhythmic response to the piano duo arrangements by renowned concert pianists Lidija and Sanja Bizjak. With Rite of Spring and Petrushka Keegan-Dolan challenges the audience with another new interpretation of one of he most complex stage creations of the 20th century. A remarkable performance that continues to hold Keegan-Dolan’s  flag high.

                                                                                    Protima Chatterjee

Watching one of Sadler’s Wells most popular productions which returned for a short run UK (3-6 April) Sutra redefined the spectacular power and magic of collaboration at the highest level.  Viewed by an amazing 160,000 people worldwide in 55 cities across 27 countries, Sutra has award winning choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui join hands with Turner prize winner Antony Gormley, along with 17 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China in the first collaboration between Western artists and the Shaolin Temple.

Sutra, a Sanskrit word meaning rope or connection, creates fluid images on stage with a striking design of 21 wooden boxes which fold and turn, shift  and evolve in an ever-changing environment for the performers- 17 monks from the original Shaolin Temple along with Ali Thabet ( in the role played originally by Sidi Larbi). Working with dynamics of scale, space  and movement on a flat grey stage – the dancers evoke several fascinating images and landscapes, Gormley’s men on the roof, men on the ramparts, war, sea journeys, budding lotus flowers, men in black in the big city and men amongst ruins. The monks displayed flourishes of martial art ( kung fu and tai chi) and then contained space in narrow boxes which transformed as graves, highrise towers, Greek columns, bunker beds.

One of Europe’s most exciting choreographers, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has created 20 memorable pieces which include zero degrees with Akram Khan, Olivier award winning Babel, Dunas with flamenco dancer Maria Pages, Joe Wright’s film Anna Karenina and currently working on a tango inspired project for Sadler’s. In a career spanning 40 years, Antony Gormley has increasingly taken his work out of the gallery to collaborative and interactive participation as in the acclaimed One and Other commission in Trafalgar Square. Winner of the Turner Prize, South Bank Prize for Visual Arts and an OBE, Gormley  has also worked with choreographer Hofesh Schester at the Barbican last year.

Sutra is accompanied by a specially commissioned striking live score including piano, strings and percussion by Polish composer Szymon Brzoska who has previously collaborated with Cherkaoui in Dunas.

The show reflects profound imagination and riveting energy in the manner in which flat space is transformed by sheer physicality of the Shaolin monks. The monks are from the original Shaolin Temple in the Hennan province of China, established in 495 AD where they follow strict Buddhist doctrine and discipline. While they display mercurial, transformative power, Ali Thabet is all fluid, waterlike grace  in his flexibility.  Ali, trained at the National Centre for Circus Arts in France, first worked with Sidi Larbi in 2004. His connect with the child monk and their miniature cube model games were replicated with precise accuracy but magnified scale by the monks on/in/under/over the boxes.. The little monk offers the child’s perspective with humour, mischief, innocence and we share his profound wonder as the stage shifts and the players game unfolds.

The Guardian describes the production as taking ” the concept of cultural exchange to a whole new level”. Sutra is certainly about connections- to history, to cultures, to narratives, to space and to the fertility of imagination. Clearly an unmissable event as the packed houses testify. The audience walk out trying to interpret messages, discuss images and meanings. Which is what art is meant to do- stimulate the imagination.

                                                                                                             Sangeeta Datta

( Sangeeta Datta is a writer- director- singer-cultural commentator based in London.        She is Director of the performing arts company BAITHAK UK and SD Films ).