Wow. These people are astonishing. If you don't believe stillness can be electrifying, you really need to see this bunch. The most elegant, graceful creatures to walk the planet. I say walk, these people (if they truly are people) glide. If they have bones it's news to me such is the incredible elasticity of their movements. Not a pinkie out of place they have the finest hands I've ever seen and wrists to match. Now I could panegyrise all day about the dancers, Cloud Gate have some of the finest in the world. Schooled in a variety of forms, Tai Chi features prominently as does classical ballet. Each dancer could be a principal anywhere in the world yet all congregate about Lin Hwai-min. On the basis of this, they do that for a very good reason.
I wouldn't want all dance to be like this. Moments are slightly ponderous, the whole work very slow. Lots of contemplative walking as the cello quietly mourns in the background. Yet for all the longueurs, it's truly hypnotic. From the very first dancer, quietly moving, bursting suddenly into faster movement before quietly returning to the peace he began with, you can feel the energy. As the solo dancers move on and off the group dances as a unit. Swaying as one body, shifting this way and that like water down a channel. It's absolutely mesmerising. At one moment all the dancers seem to be doing their own thing, then suddenly they are all moving as one. Miraculous stuff. When water slowly begins to fill the stage the dancers baggy white clothes soak in water and suddenly the piece takes on a completely different complexion. Water sprays up as the dancers slide about like water nymphs (like the end of Step Up 2 only with decent dancing). It's profoundly beautiful stuff. When the backcloth rises revealing a massive mirror, suddenly the dancers are all reflected above and below. A startling image that I won't soon forget. The piece closes quietly with the dancers slowly shifting off the stage, leaving seemingly as randomly as they came. Like a divine movement, sent by some higher power and leaving when the work is done.
For all the brilliance I have some minor complaints. The piece is probably 10 minutes too long, once the water arrives it takes new life but just before the evening felt like it was dragging. For all the genius I struggled to see the work as "a study of the real vs. the unreal, effort vs. effortlessness, yin and yang, and in the end, a study of time". That just sounds like fluff and makes me think of nothing other than that most painful evening I spent at "Fram" this week. Ignore the programme and you have nothing to worry about. It's an evening of absolute simplicity. Possibly the world's finest stress buster, it's a perfect release from the all too stressful world. Cloud Gate are touring all over the UK after this short run at Sadlers Wells and I suspect they'll sell very well. See them if you can, a life experience in just how perfect the world can be.
I wouldn't want all dance to be like this. Moments are slightly ponderous, the whole work very slow. Lots of contemplative walking as the cello quietly mourns in the background. Yet for all the longueurs, it's truly hypnotic. From the very first dancer, quietly moving, bursting suddenly into faster movement before quietly returning to the peace he began with, you can feel the energy. As the solo dancers move on and off the group dances as a unit. Swaying as one body, shifting this way and that like water down a channel. It's absolutely mesmerising. At one moment all the dancers seem to be doing their own thing, then suddenly they are all moving as one. Miraculous stuff. When water slowly begins to fill the stage the dancers baggy white clothes soak in water and suddenly the piece takes on a completely different complexion. Water sprays up as the dancers slide about like water nymphs (like the end of Step Up 2 only with decent dancing). It's profoundly beautiful stuff. When the backcloth rises revealing a massive mirror, suddenly the dancers are all reflected above and below. A startling image that I won't soon forget. The piece closes quietly with the dancers slowly shifting off the stage, leaving seemingly as randomly as they came. Like a divine movement, sent by some higher power and leaving when the work is done.
For all the brilliance I have some minor complaints. The piece is probably 10 minutes too long, once the water arrives it takes new life but just before the evening felt like it was dragging. For all the genius I struggled to see the work as "a study of the real vs. the unreal, effort vs. effortlessness, yin and yang, and in the end, a study of time". That just sounds like fluff and makes me think of nothing other than that most painful evening I spent at "Fram" this week. Ignore the programme and you have nothing to worry about. It's an evening of absolute simplicity. Possibly the world's finest stress buster, it's a perfect release from the all too stressful world. Cloud Gate are touring all over the UK after this short run at Sadlers Wells and I suspect they'll sell very well. See them if you can, a life experience in just how perfect the world can be.
1 comments:
I agree with you that the work lasts too long, and I also agree that it is best approached as an exercise in Zen-like stillness. One must simply "be" in the theatre in order to soak up the energy of the piece.
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