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Faun. Pictures: Johan Persson Acosta Danza - Cuban Eclectico Birmingham Hippodrome ***** There is a striking combination of athleticism, emotional power and technique about this latest production from Carlos Acosta’s eclectic dance company which fulfils all the aims of its creator in a single programme. Acosta Danza honoured both Acosta’s Cuban roots and his love of ballet and dance, mixing classical forms with Afro-Cuban rhythms, elements of flamenco, the slave inspired Brazilian capoeira and even hip-hop. Dance is a universal language spoken by every culture. The programme provides five very different pieces opening with Cuban choreographer Raúl Reinoso’s Satori with its main design element a stage filling blue sheet which provided a skirt for nine dancers, or for one dancer, or hiding upper or lower halves creating a life of its own, rising and falling, covering and exposing. The female lead was at times engulfed, at times lifted high in her stage filling skirt by unseen hands. Carried along by Pepe Gavilondo’s original score with at times a mournful cello, it was a powerful opener. There was a warning of nudity in the performance and we opened with bare chested dancers, male and female, wearing the sheet as skirts. Whether the nudity was required or made a point perhaps only the choreographer would know but as with much of contemporary dance, what it means and represents is unique to the person watching, we all see it and understand it differently. The second piece was Faun from Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which was originally created in 2017 for Sadler’s Wells and is based on Debussy’s dreamy Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the AA faun being fternoon of a Faun) with elements of additional music from Nitin Sawhney. A faun being a mythical half-man, half-goat creature.
Impronta The first version was created by Vaslav Nijinski in 1912 for the Ballet Russes in Paris and the somewhat overtly sensual nature created a clutching of pearls major scandal in the ballet community. Despite that the piece has become a standard of modern ballet and here creates a sensual pas de deux with some exquisite, do not try this at home without medical insurance, intertwining of bodies. The pair's dance ranges from romantic to animalistic in a forest setting on a rear video wall which takes us from dawn to night. The first half had a structure, one suggesting ideas probably different for everyone in the audience, the second half was about dance, pure and simple opening with Paysage, Soudain, La nuit from Swedish choreographer Pontus Lidberg with a rumbaesque score from Leo Brouwer. It is a dance to make you feel your age with a display of endless energy from a the young cast with some remarkable quick Latin steps and remarkably well coordinated ensemble movement with the whole cast moving as one – something repeated in the final piece. Impronta followed, a solo piece choreographed by Spanish choreographer María Rovira to music from José V. Gavilondo based on Afro-Cuban folk dances. Although a short piece it is still long a for a solo but was never repetitive and built slowly to a logical climax in a showcase of the female dancer’s grace and technique. The final piece was Alexis Fernández’s De Punta a Cabo with music from Kumar, Kike Wolf - From beautiful cuban by José White , X Alfonso and Omar Sosa. It is set against an upstage video wall of the Havana skyline with dancers both on stage and on video dancing on the on the landmark Malecón esplanade seawall and it shows the mix of styles of Acosta’s group which sees trainers, bare feet and ballet shoes, contemporary, en pointe to hip-hop in a dance that also illustrates the riches and poverty of Cuba in a joyous finale. It is a production that achieves what it sets out to do, offering a tribute to both Cuban culture and the many directions and celebrations of dance from a young, talented cast, with a huge range of techniques, boundless enthusiasm and a delightful ready and infectious smile. Roger Clarke 13-05-25 |
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