Where to sit? The view from the audience

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I mentioned in an earlier blog that I was going to say something about where to sit to watch dance.  This is one of those topics that I will confess I have changed my mind about several times over the years.  I guess the truth is that you need to try out different locations until you find what you like and don’t like, and to keep in mind that theatres are all different, so what works in one might not be so good in another.  Always go for the best you can afford in any case.  There is nothing, however, that can be done about predicting who is going to sit in front of you (or indeed, behind you)!

In a traditional theatre, the first issue to address is stalls, circle or upper circle.  There was a period where I always sat in the stalls, as I wanted to be able to closely watch the feet and to be able to see the details of what was going on.  A friend of mine convinced me of the joys of sitting upstairs, from where you can see the patterns and shapes more clearly, and so for several years I always went for the circle or upper circle.  Well, here we have to consider a number of things.  Firstly, too far ‘up in the Gods’ and you probably won’t see anything (for example, I once went to see a Polish company in a piece that featured nudity, and I was so far back I couldn’t tell who were the men and who were the women…well, almost!).  Secondly, in some theatres like Gamle Scene in Copenhagen, there are many seats with an obscured view in the upper parts of the theatre.  If you suffer from vertigo, then some upper circle seats are really not for you (again, some of Gamle Scene).  More modern theatres such as the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh and the Opera House in Copenhagen have good seating upstairs, though watch out as in some big theatres, you will feel you are a long way from the stage and can feel a bit detached from the performance. 

The last two pieces I have seen have been in the stalls, and I have regained my fondness for that place in the theatre.  The front stalls in particular are a great place to sit.  For example, when I saw the Dance Theatre of Wuppertal’s ‘Rite of Spring’, I was so close I could smell the earth on the stage the dancers were performing upon.  However, I was glad I was upstairs when I saw Nureyev in ‘Prodigal Son’, the sweat trails on the stage would probably have been even worse close too!

This brings us to the type of performance space often used by contemporary companies, what I call the scaffolding and wobbly step type of seating.  This varies a lot from the good, such as I have experienced at The Tramway in Glasgow, to the sort where you wonder if you will end up falling through the seating during the performance.  It is best not to go for the front two or back two rows in my opinion if you don’t want to be part of the performance either by being too close or sitting right beside the people doing the lights.  It is particularly fun if the scaffolding is used as part of the performance, such as during a talk I once went to by Merce Cunningham which at one point included John Cage walking about underneath the seats, banging on the metal, creating rhythms for dance.

Finally, there are some venues that should not be used for dance, such as The Concert Hall in Tivoli, Copenhagen (which won’t stop be going to see Alvin Ailey there in September I may add).  It is also risky performing outside when in northern Europe, though sometimes it is glorious, when the sun is shining and the costumes billow in the wind.

So…my advice is experiment, get to know the theatre you are going to if possible, and keep your fingers crossed that there are only short people in front and no badly behaved children behind!

(Footnote – one of the most intriguing performances I have seen was Tim Rushton’s ‘Labyrinth’ where we as the audience walked around, almost interacting with the dancers, who danced in separate spaces.  That gave quite a different perspective of dance).

East meets West: Dansk Danseteater & Beijing Dance Theater

Last Friday, I went to a really interesting evening of dance, interesting as it gave me an opportunity to not only see a new piece by Tim Rushton that had been premiered in Edinburgh by the Rambert Dance Company (‘Monolith’), but also to see some choreography and dancing from China.  It was the opening night of the pieces in Copenhagen.

 The opening piece was ‘Monolith’ (pictured above), inspired, according to the programme notes, by Stonehenge.  What a refreshing change to what I had seen the week before!  The dancers were engaged and moved with grace, elegance and strength.  The choreography was lyrical and clearly showed Rushton’s classical roots.  An excellent piece, set to music by Peteris Vasks.  I suggest you read about the Rambert rehearsals if you want to know more in the wonderful ‘theballetbag’.

http://www.theballetbag.com/2011/02/13/rambert-dance-company-in-rehearsal-monolith

The second piece, ‘Dead Fire’ was choreographed by Wang Yuanyuan, artistic director of the Beijing Dance Theater and danced by Dansk Danseteater.  This too was quite a lyrical piece, with a beautiful back drop.  The dancers cast ‘snow’ over the stage and on each other, giving the piece a soft edge to its at times harsh message (death always wins).  The dancers frequently had their back to the audience, sometimes a risky thing to do, but in this case it worked. 

The evening ended with ‘The End of Loneliness’, choreographed by Tim Rushton danced in the main by the company from Beijing, joined by the dancers of Dansk Danseteater.  The music was a strong percussion piece by Mathias Friis-Hansen.  Two things struck me most about this piece.  First, the women had the most beautiful arms I think I have seen in ages.  Long, elegant, they seemed to use every fibre of their arms from the tip of the middle finger to the shoulder.   The men too had good arms and nice strong jumps.  The second thing I noticed was Rushton’s sometimes lapse into, what I like to call the ‘oh help I don’t know what to do next so I’ll just get them to repeat the same thing three or four times’ routine.  I’ve seen him do this before, and it is such a shame to comment on this since I really like his work and he comes over as such a nice person in interviews!

The audience gave the evening a standing ovation, which I thought a little over the top, but it was definitely the highlight of any dance I have seen this year.  Rushton has done wonders with Dansk Danseteater and I hope it may long continue.  He has made mistakes (like the full length ‘Cinderella’ for the Danish Royal Ballet), but is full of talent and a breath of fresh air on the Danish dance scene.

Balanchine and Stravinsky Part 3

And now to finally write a review of the third piece….

‘Symphony in Three Movements’ is a piece from 1972, and looked it.  Whether it was the long, ponytails sported by the women or the choreography, I am not sure, but it had a very 70s feel to it.  Although it was the most modern of the three pieces, it seemed like the oldest. 

It is an ensemble piece, and certainly full of energy, angular movements and verve.  I have read that Stravinsky composed the symphony's three movements at different times for three different films, although they were never actually used on screen.  On stage, with the dancing, it seemed like a seamless piece.

Well, like the rest of the evening, the piece was a bit of a disappointment, with little sparkle or dynamism.  In my view, The Royal Danish Ballet has lost its way and desperately needs something to boost it. 

There are two extra things to add on a more personal note about the evening.  One was that one of the ‘5 men’ in the last piece was Benjamin Buza, the son of the caretaker at Lygten 16 where I work.  It is always nice to spot someone you almost feel you know!

Secondly, a few days later when I was thinking over the evening, a terrible thought arose….what if the truth is that I don’t really like Balanchine?  I can understand why I fell in love with his style as a child since it was the first neo-classical choreography I saw, but maybe, just maybe, I am no longer a fan.  New York City Ballet are coming here next year, so we will see! 

(After thought….I thought NYCB were a big disappointment last time I saw them…).

Stravinsky and Balanchine Part 2

And so to continue with the rest of the evening…

The second ballet of the evening was ‘Agon’ from 1957.  This is a wonderful work, one that I have seen described as being the ‘most complex and sophisticated of ballets’ (in the Faber Pocket Guide to Ballet).  It is one of those pieces that gets written about and discussed at great length, the wonderful relationship between the music and dance, the striking shapes and forms of the piece.

Balanchine structured his piece around Stravinsky’s score.  The ballet is built around 12 dancers (4 men and 8 women) and has 12 movements (4 sections of 3 dances).  The music alludes to 17^th century French court dances (bransles, galliards and sarabande).  Brass instruments are used to identify the men and woodwind the women.  I can highly recommend The Ballet Bag for an excellent overview (http://www.theballetbag.com/2009/10/05/agon/ )

The structure takes this form:

Pas de Quatre for the men
Double Pas de Quatre  for the women
Triple Pas de Quatre for all 12 dancers
Prelude for 1 man & 2 women
Saraband-step for 1 man
Galliard for 2 women
Coda for 1 man & 2 women
Interlude for 2 men and women
Bransle simple for 2 men
Bransle gai for 1 woman
Bransle double for 2 men and 1 woman
Interlude for 1 man & 1 woman
Pas de Deux for 1 man & 1 woman
Four Pas de Deux for the men & 4 women
Four Pas de Trois for all 12 dancers
Coda: all the dancers

Now to the performance on Thursday!  Apart from one of the dancers nearly falling over (but gracefully recovering), the dancing was fine and technically competent.  However, as usual I am afraid, there was no ‘oomph’, no dynamism, nothing to remember.  The central pas de deux, which should be a show stopper, passed me by.  I have just watched a rather poor quality video I found on YouTube of Agon danced by New York City Ballet in the 1980s and, even watching on my computer screen, I was entranced and gripped by the exciting and enervating performance. That was what I had hoped for on Thursday but as usual was disappointed with RDB.

However, I would like to heap praise on one dancer, Jon Axel Fransson from Iceland, who had energy, verve and a sparkle lacking in the other dancers. 

Part three to follow…..

Balanchine and Stravinsky Part 1

Having decided not to go to a few of the recent productions by the Danish Royal Ballet, I thought it was about time to go to something again, especially as it was a triple bill of ‘Balanchine & Stravinsky’.  I am one of those who like Balanchine (and there are many who don’t).  It stems from the first time I saw some of his work when I was a child in Paris and I was totally bowled over by the neo-classical style and the simple black and white leotards – it was so different from ‘Nutcracker’ and the other classics I had seen up until then.

The programme consisted of ‘Apollo’, ‘Agon’ and ‘Symphony in Three Movements’.  Since Hübbe took over as artistic director in 2008, DRB have added a number of Balanchine works to their repertoire, no doubt due to his previous career with New York City Ballet. 

The evening began with ‘Apollo’.  It was first performed in 1928, and still looks contemporary and fresh.  The ballet is basically about Apollo, god of the sun and the arts, when he was young.  He meets three muses: Calliope, the muse of poetry, Polyhymnia, the muse of mime and Terpsichore, the muse of dance.  Each of the muses dances, but Apollo is mostly charmed by Terpsichore, with whom he dances a pas de deux.  The ballet is set against a bright blue background, the dancers in white.  The end is a wonderful arrangement of the muses and Apollo, the muses legs in arabesques, forming a shape like the rays of the sun.  Deborah Bull wrote that ‘the deceptively simple choreography requires intense concentration and a constant steadying of nerves, from the first entrance' which I can well and truly imagine!  (Quote from The Faber Pocket Guide to Ballet, 2004).

Apollo is one of those pieces I have seen a few times, and have to say I always have great expectations and am usually disappointed, not by the ballet or the choreography, but by the dancing.  Last night, Apollo was danced by Alban Lendorf, the rising star of DRB.  While he may be technically proficient, he has absolutely no charisma or stage presence.  Moreover, while it may be considered that Balanchine’s work are abstract and emotionless, a certain amount of passion and expression is needed if we are to believe in Apollo.  The three muses were all very good (danced by Caroline Baldwin, Holly Jean Dorger and Alba Nadal), with Baldwin proving to be the strongest.

I think I may have mentioned Lendorf before.  His Blue Bird in the pas de deux from ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was dreadful, yet it was executed by the text book.  And therein lies the problem with Lendorf – he looks as if he is in the classroom going through the motions.  He is still young with a career ahead, but I am not convinced he will ever be one of the ‘greats’.

I’m going to write about the other two pieces later, and also return to my theme of ‘where to sit’ as I was in the stalls last night.  The picture below is from a review of New York City Ballet in Paris in The New York Times of 2008.