Theatre
PREVIEW CONTEMPORARY DANCE JANIS CLAXTON DANCE COMPANY Traverse, Edinburgh, Fri 17 & Sat 18 Oct, then touring
The last time we saw Janis Claxton, she was looking rather sodden in a rainy enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo. Not that the weather dampened her spirits - Claxton’s group show, Enclosure 44 - Humans was a huge success at this year’s Fringe, garnering more media attention and critical acclaim than anyone could have predicted.
Still, it’s always nice to get back into the warm, and Claxton’s next venture sees her resolutely her sheltering indoors. Touring venues across Scotland, the ‘Falling Light' tour will feature seven female dancers (including Claxton herself) performing three works to some truly sumptuous music.
The triple-bill opens with Rinne, set to the sounds of Australian new music ensemble, Waratah and inspired by the movements of the humming bird. ‘I always say that the dancers’ bodies sing the music,’ says Claxton of the piece. ‘It’s completely set to every pulse and is
88 THE LIST 16—30 Oct 2008
m MODERN CLASSIC THE LESSON
Tron, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Oct, then touring COO
lonesco‘s absurdist classic continues to feel relevant because it chips away at our feeling that something of ourselves remains unexpressed beneath the world of manners. and g the arcane language that surrounds it. ’ In Gerry Mulgrew's production for Benchtours this sense of there being a much better conversation than exists on the surface is nicely explored.
; The familiar tale. in which an eager if i somewhat misguided student (Kirstin McLean) visits a repressed professor (Peter Clerke) for an intensive tutorial that his maid (Catherine Gillard) warns against is here presented with escalating intensity, ending in violence.
Jason Southgate's naturalistic set complements Tim Brinkhurst's playful, eventually alarming surrealist electronic soundscape, but the scary clowning one associates with the piece is a little restrained. This diminishes the effect this exploration of the alarming inadequacy of our systems of knowledge can sometimes have. For all that, there are some nice comic touches in the exposure of the ridiculousness of what we call courtesy. So. too. an increasingly outlandish exploration of language reaches new heights of hyperbolic absurdity.
All this works to demonstrate the lengths to which we go to artificially separate those two inseparable entities, body and mind. There are some good performances too. parIICUIarly from McLean's winsome poppet. which features some subtle physical touches. (Steve Cramer)
very fast, so it’s quite a mental and physical workout for the dancers.’
Joining the company on tour will be the Edinburgh Quartet, who’ll perform live on stage alongside the dancers. A cello solo of Bach’s Partitia No. 2 will accompany Claxton’s new piece, Torque. While Songs Are Sung will feature Henryk Gorecki’s score of the same name. The latter causing a frisson of excitement among the classical music fraternity, as this will be the first time the Polish composer’s piece has been t performed in Scotland.
Those familiar with Gorecki’s million selling Symphony of Sorrowful Songs will know how emotive 3 his strings can be. This is something Claxton has tapped into with her choreography for Songs Are Sung. ‘The music is the starting point,’ she says. ‘It evokes a lot of images that we play with, to do with loss and grief but also support. It’s pretty much a pure dance work with an emotional base, and I’m hoping that people will interpret their own journey through it.’ (Kelly Apter)
REVIEW MUSICAL MARY POPPINS Playhouse, Edinburgh, until Sat 6 Dec .0000
There are several factors that separate Mary Poppins from the average musical. but the main one is there are no weak links. No stars bussed in purely to put burns on seats. dragging down the standard with weak vocals. No second division set carved from the West End show and sent on tour. And no dancers who know their way around a set of jazz hands but little else.
In fact there's nothing that stops this being, like the character herself, practically perfect in every way. Blending PL Travers' original book with the Walt Disney film. Cameron Mackintosh's intelligent production brings out the best in both. Gone are the two dimensional characters on celluloid. replaced by a family you can really care about. While those cracking Sherman brothers numbers have been re—imagined and added to seamlessly by songwriters George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.
The directorial dream team of Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne also ensures that each dance routine takes the least obvious path. Bourne's choreography is sharp and inventive, especially in Superca/r'fragr‘l/st/cexpr’a/r’doc/(ms, which takes YMCA—style arms and cranks up the speedometer. the joyful tap dancing of Step in Time and balletic statues which come alive in Jol/y Holiday, all neatly folded up inside Bob Crowley's charming, dolls house set.
Clever routines and fearless flying make Mary Poppins stand out from the crowd. But what really stays with you is the poignant story of a family who have fallen off the rails. and the Supernanny who gets them back on track. (Kelly Apter)