Dance
PREVIEW DANCE THEATRE MIRANDA Cottier Theatre, Glasgow, Sun 23 Oct; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 20 Nov
If you find yourself slightly puzzled at the start of Miranda, the new show from Company Chordelia, then don’t worry – the lead character is, too. ‘Miranda is lost,’ explains the company’s artistic director, Kally Lloyd Jones. ‘She’s been at a party, has had a few drinks and wanders out into the snow. It’s all very beautiful and she’s a bit giggly, but then it gets a bit darker and things start to happen.’ The setting for this dance theatre work has been
created by designer Janis Hart, who worked with Lloyd Jones to conjure up an air of atmospheric mystery. ‘I wanted it to feel like a muffled world,’ explains Lloyd Jones, ‘so we had the idea of setting it in a completely snowy landscape. Everything is white, and we’re dancing on carpet so you can’t hear anything. And during the show, that space becomes the inside of a house, where once again you wonder where you are,
and what exactly is going on here?’
Lloyd Jones plays the eponymous heroine, and is joined on stage by former Scottish Ballet dancer Kimberley Lawrie and Rambert-trained Kirsty Pollock. ‘Kirsty plays a child – possibly my inner child or my child self,’ says Lloyd Jones, ‘and Kimberley plays a pierrot. You get the feeling the pierrot has been around forever – she’s the conduit between the real world and the not so real world.’ They also share the stage with a digital baby grand piano which makes a ‘rather spooky’ contribution to the show, according to Lloyd Jones. Although there’s a definite narrative in place, Lloyd
Jones is keen for people to find their own way through the piece. ‘I think where they are, and what exactly happened, is open to interpretation,’ she says. ‘I talked to many people after we performed a work in progress earlier this year, and everybody grasped the fundamentals of the story, but they got there in a slightly different way, and I really like that. But in the end, it’s about making peace with something inside of you.’ (Kelly Apter)
PREVIEW CONTEMPORARY DANCE RAMBERT DANCE COMPANY Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thu 3–Sat 5 Nov
He’s one of Britain’s finest opera composers, garnering awards and commissions at home and abroad. Yet even Stephen McNeff had a moment of trepidation when it came to re-arranging the work of one of his heroes. Choreographed by Rambert’s artistic director, Mark Baldwin, Seven for a secret, never to be told is set to Ravel’s early 20th century opera L’enfant et les sortilèges. ‘I tried to think what would Ravel have done, had he been asked to write a piece for Rambert,’ says McNeff. As well as editing the operatic score down, McNeff was also asked to create new sections to add to the composition. ‘Once I started working like that, it really freed me up,’ he says. ‘I like to think that if I bumped into Ravel, he would say “nice job you did on L’enfant et les sortilèges as a dance piece”. I’m a great admirer of Ravel’s work, so the thing was to approach it with respect but not be overawed.’ Although Baldwin’s new work uses Ravel’s score, the narrative in the dance
is completely different from the opera. Nor does it focus on the title’s origin – nursery rhyme ‘One for Sorrow’. Instead it is a wonderful celebration of childhood, with each of the Rambert dancers taking on a child-like role. ‘Childhood is a very evocative thing,’ says McNeff. ‘There’s the delight of children, and the regret some adults have – would we do it all differently? I think Mark has captured that extremely well.’ (Kelly Apter)
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112 THE LIST 20 Oct–17 Nov 2011
CHOREOGRAPHER OF THE MONTH As Newcastle-based balletLORENT makes a welcome return to Scotland with its sensual work, la nuit intime, we get the low-down from choreographer LIV LORENT
What made you want to be a choreographer? I couldn’t be the dancer I wanted to be, but felt compelled to marry the dancers I did adore with the music I loved. I still feel that this is something I need to do, and enjoy collaborating with others towards a collective vision.
What was the inspiration behind la nuit intime? It came from a desire to create the ultimate sanctuary, where the audience gets to share an intimate environment with the dancers, and see them close up. I want to share the privilege I have of knowing and loving each one of them, and to create a kind of utopia of freedom, daring and vulnerability through dance and music. What are you looking for in a dancer? They need to inspire my love, admiration and protection. They have to work very hard as well as retain their sense of humour. I need to be able to trust them completely. I do find them all to be very beautiful, and I guess they need to buy into the aesthetic and emotional vision I want to create with and for them.
What do you hope audiences will take away from your show? I hope that audiences both young and mature enjoy the gentle anarchy of each individual performance, and the rare intimacy of witnessing these brilliant dancers from touching distance. These shows have proven to have a strong impact on audiences so far, and I hope we can create more memories through this Scottish tour. ■ balletLORENT, Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, Fri 11 Nov; the Arches, Glasgow, Mon 14 Nov; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 18 & Sat 19 Nov.