Nederlands
Dans Theater
by R. Pikser
In
its too-short stay at City Center, the Nederlands Dans Theater gave us a nearly
three hour long evening of pieces, each of which demonstrated in its own way
that the vocabulary of what is called Contemporary Dance can be used to express
ideas of some depth. The three pieces also demonstrated the international
character of the company. One was by Argentinian Gabriela Carrizo, one was by
former company member Marco Goecke (originally from Germany), , and one was by
company directors Sol Léon (Spain) and Paul Lightfoot (England).
The
opening piece, by Ms. Carrizo, The Missing Door, is just as relevant, if
not more so, now than it was in 2013 when it was created for the NDT. A light
on the dark stage calls our attention. As the lights come up, we see a man and
a woman sprawled, one on a chair, one on the floor. They might be dead or they
might have simply passed out. When a formally dressed butler-type person comes
in and pulls the woman into the space behind a door, one question is answered:
She is dead. But other questions arise. The man is left on the chair as the
butler starts to meticulously clean the floor. What is the status of the man?
Why does the butler ignore him? The butler, working harder and harder, starts
to spin on one knee and to do other difficult steps, but not to show off to
us. The steps are merely part of his intense cleaning. Eventually, the cloths
start to get away from him, taking on a life of their own and his pursuit of
them lets us see more extraordinary technique, but always in the service of the
idea being conveyed. Then the man sits up and the woman comes back. They
embrace and she is shot by someone behind a mirror. She rises and falls. A
maid enters bringing a chair. Later, she carries out washing. Another couple
appears. Maybe they are alter egos. There are embraces between them, too, but
more violent. Their duet is like a rape, which the woman doesn’t even seem to
resist. Doors on the two sides of the set open and close of their own
volition. At one point the butler tries so hard to open a locked door that he
shakes the entire wall of the set and nearly brings it down. From time to
time, a man operating a floodlight shines it on one or another of the dancers.
What
is happening? The world is out of control. The dead may rise again. Or they
may not. We cannot control our environment, try though we may. Perhaps we are
all being raped. What should we do? Clean up and remain uninvolved, like the
maid and the butler? Are we truly locked in to our world? Is there hope?
The most hope comes from the energy of the dancers, always in supreme control
of their bodies no matter how they may seem to fling themselves around the
stage. Perhaps if they can survive, we can, too.
Mr.
Goecke’s piece, Walk the Demon, is a critique of relationships rather
than of society. The repetitive, staccato movements but are contrasted from
time to time with more lyrical and sensual movement. The held in, jerky
movements, whether performed by soloists or groups, come to seem like
masturbation, while the more lyrical movements seem, from time to time, to
reach out and embrace one or another dancer, though not with completely
satisfactory results. The main effect is of frustration. The problem is that
the audience, too becomes frustrated. The choreographer needs to point up what
he is trying to say, rather than reenacting it.
The
final ballet of the evening, Shut Eye, premiered in 2016 in the
Netherlands. In contrast to Ms. Carrizo’s detailed set, the choreographers
used distorted projections of objects and sometimes of amorphous shapes to help
create a world that was meant to be surreal. We started with a projected moon,
under which a dancer, seemingly a sort of satyr judging from his sensual yet
awkward movements, danced, first alone, then with a partner. Again, the
dancers’ total control of their bodies was extraordinary, yet always at the
service of the movement, rather than of the dancer. After a while, an
ordinarily dressed couple entered through a door upstage center, which
eventually became the entrance and exit for all the dancers, and seemed to lead
to another world, or to provide the dancers from another world entrée into this
one. The ordinary folks danced with an edge of hysteria but it was not clear
why. This ballet had the most interesting shapes, whether in duets or in lines
reaching from group to group when more people were on stage together. These
complex shapes were paralleled and reflected in the abstract projections.
Finally, the satyrs appeared again, as did the moon. Whatever had transpired
was not clear, but it was interesting and attracting as only live performance
can be.
After
the show, this reviewer heard some audience members saying, as a compliment,
that Shut Eye could have been a film; surprisingly, they seemed unaware
that, though the lighting effects and their integration with the choreography
had been excellent, in the last analysis what had pulled us into the piece was
the physical energy and discipline of the performers, and it was that physical
energy that had so moved us.
Nederlands
Dans Theater
March
3rd – 7th 2020
City
Center 131 West 55th Street
New
York, NY
Tickets
$50
www.nycitycenter.org/events-tickets
CityTix
212 581 1212
