September 13, 2009
Rosas Daily News
Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's Rosas have featured on these pages quite a few times, and they were in town again this week with two shows at Sadler's Wells. This was a delight for me, though not all my companions were so keen.
Rosas Danst Rosas dates back more than a quarter century to the beginnings of the company, and stands as something like a choreographic manifesto, laying down many of ATK's signature movements and preoccupations. I first saw it in about 1992, in the more intimate confines of The Place. It was the first Rosas piece I'd seen and I became an immediate convert; since then I've gone to pretty much everything they've brought to town, no questions asked. Seeing it again, I was struck by how much I remembered, how clearly, although there was also plenty I'd forgotten -- including, perhaps, just how fearsomely difficult it is, for the four dancers (including Anne Teresa herself, still fierce and precise after all these years) and also, in a very different way, for the viewer.
The first of the four main sections, 25 minutes of small movements danced mostly lying down and in silence, is particularly unforgiving. Especially in this big theatre, where some of the detail is inevitably lost, it can come across as drab and self-indulgent, while the lack of soundtrack makes one all too aware of the restiveness of other audience members. There were walkouts -- and they echoed unmissably in the oppressive silence. Subsequent sections add music of increasing richness, and much bigger, livelier movement, though always adhering to a profound and rigorous minimalism, driven by intricately-layered repetition. This is dance as serious, perhaps slightly po-faced, capital-A Art, with no quarter asked or given. In that, perhaps, it may be a little bit dated; artists are not supposed to take themselves that seriously in these post-ironic times. But in all other respects it still looks to me to be right at the cutting edge.
Among my companions for RDR were Ros and Larry, who actually took me to the 1992 perf and are therefore responsible for my Rosas fandom. Like me, they were unfazed by the first section, having been through it all before. Antonio and Ian both hated that, and were somewhat soured on the remainder as a result, although at least partially won over as things progressed. (Before the show I told them it would be austere; afterward, Antonio said this was a bit like saying the Sahara is dry...)
In some, very minor, ways, the new piece Zeitung is also a little taxing, and indeed one or two people walked out of that too. It's even longer (two hours with, of course, no interval) and drags in places. But it has none of RDR's harshness or challenge, nor its coherence. It's only vaguely a piece at all, more of a revue, a patchwork of little dances to music by Bach, Webern and Schönberg, mostly for the piano, mostly played live. Now I could have done without most of the Webern and Schönberg, but the Bach was lovely and much of the dancing was very beautiful indeed. In a company of very fine dancers, ex-Featherstonehaugh Mark Lorimer was once again a standout, confident and mature and wonderfully fluent. I enjoyed the whole thing quite a lot; by Rosas standards it was a lighthearted bit of fun. But it didn't add up to much more than idle prettiness.
Posted by matt at September 13, 2009 7:06 PM