Frontiers, National Ballet of Canada: A thought-provoking interplay of classical and contemporary
National Ballet of Canada’s new triple bill, Frontiers, is headlined by none other than Crystal Pite. One of the three Canadian dancemakers the programme embraces, she is among the most internationally acclaimed choreographers at work today, and the piece of hers on offer here, Angels’ Atlas (2020), proves a spellbinding marriage of creative forces.
The action takes place against a backdrop of reflected light, which morphs and builds like cirrus clouds. At the work’s opening, the company of more than 40 dancers lie on their backs, chests lifted upwards, heads tilted so they can look out at the audience. Pite excels at choreographing for a large body of dancers. In her 2017 Royal Ballet debut, Flight Pattern, later developed into the full-length work Light of Passage, she explored the mass movement of refugees. Angels’ Atlas recalls this work: are we looking at a body of mortals or something more celestial?
Although the ballet – designed by Jay Gower Taylor and lit by Tom Visser – is set to a collage of music old and new, the most persistent sound is that of a pounding heartbeat, conjuring a sense of dread. Dressed by Nancy Bryant in loose black trousers, the dancers’ chests undulate to the sound. The movement is controlled and hypnotic as the company pulsates as one, or divides into two tribes at war: one crouched, the other dominant. At moments, the hands-to-head emoting – a repeated Pite trick – is too blunt an instrument for an artist capable of such subtlety and flair, but that’s a minor quibble about a mesmerising work by a dazzling talent.
The evening – which marks NBOC’s first visit to Sadler’s Wells since 2013 – opens with Passion, choreographed by James Kudelka, artistic director of the company from 1996 to 2005. Created for Houston Ballet in 2013, this is danced to the first movement of Beethoven’s unfinished Sixth Piano Concerto, played live.
With three separate pieces of action taking place – an overtly classical couple, a corps of five women and a contemporary duo – it can be difficult to know whose story to follow, and the initial effect is discombobulating. The ballet dancers, who take centre stage initially, and are sometimes supported by two additional classical couples, are dressed by costume designer Denis Lavoie in ethereal Romantic tutus. Meanwhile, the contemporary duo, company principal Heather Ogden and guest artist McGee Maddox, in more casual daywear, stalk the stage, at first, at a distance from each other. It’s a playful, enjoyable work, if not guaranteed to endure in the memory.
The youngest choreographer on the bill, Emma Portner, was just 23 when she choreographed Bat Out of Hell: The Musical; she has made dances for Justin Bieber, and collaborated with tap star Michelle Dorrance. Her duet, islands, was first danced by Norwegian National Ballet in 2020. Here it’s performed by the two female leads from Passion, Ogden and Penn Nabity, who initially share the same pair of four-legged trousers, joined at the waistline.
The electronic score evokes an underwater place – a womb, perhaps. With the angular movement of street dance, the pair create insectile shapes, limbs spiking out from a single body. When one sits on top of the other, her torso seems to join with her partner’s scuttling legs. Later, they become a couple in bed, irritated by their joined-at-the-hip proximity, or knot and flick out each other’s legs like tango dancers. When they free themselves from the trousers and part ways, the piece shifts to a more lyrical tone, echoing the themes of human connection and separation present in the other two works on this enjoyable triple bill.
Until Oct 6. Tickets: 020 7863 8000; sadlerswells.com