In nature, sap flows, resulting in fifty shades of green. I don't know how you feel about it, but it makes me happy. It gives me a boost. Ballet Vlaanderen taps into that spring feeling with the performance 'JOY', a diptych featuring work by two hip, leading Swedish choreographers who have already won multiple awards.
Both 'JOY' by Ekman and B.R.I.S.A. by Inger showcase a source of playfulness, cheerfulness and charm in a flawless cocktail. A scene that vibrates with fresh ideas and dance joy. A performance with very special chemistry that sets happiness hormones in motion.
JOY, choreography Alexander Ekman = mischievous ode to life
The performance opens rather unusually. The choreographer poses a question to the audience: "How does joy express itself in you. Which movements do you associate with joy?" The dancers, in unisex eggshell-white jumpsuits, display how each one interprets it according to their own feeling: jumping, tumbling, sliding, watering a tree… That tree is the only element on stage besides a glowing flamingo. As a performer, radiating uninhibited exuberance is not self-evident. Even if they're having a shit day, they still have to embody 'joy'. After the chaotic beginning, the action gradually shifts towards great homogeneity. A joy-creating force is drawn from the music. A dancer vetoes the men and lets her pointes drop demonstratively. This is eagerly taken up by all the dancers with a general shoe drop.
They pick their pointes back up and drop them at short intervals. This is repeated several times and creates a rolling sound. In a total blackout they tie their pointes on and then the party begins with quick lightness of foot. The ballerinas move in formation with the same controlled steps, mostly on pointe. Through their stretched arches and long legs you draw comparisons with the long-legged flamingo. They move in wordless harmony, come together and drift apart again. A stimulating beat sometimes makes it look like disco on pointe. Structured versus free movement, synchronous alongside unexpected moments. Then a man drifts something into the whole thing. He has something in his sights that brings him joy, which he relishes. The herd behavior is dissected here for a moment. Everyone lines up behind him. His pleasure is taken over without knowing why! He tears himself loose. Goes to another spot and they follow. This sequence is interrupted by an object that suddenly falls from the sky. A mother-of-pearl-colored high heel. Another one from the other side of the stage. And yes, the broad male foot squeezes itself into the delicate last. It becomes a small bombardment of high heels. Men and women parade in high heels awkwardly or gracefully across the stage. 'JOY' a delightful, sparkling choreography.
B.R.I.S.A. choreography Johan Inger = the wind of change
This choreography has a very different tenor. The soundscape is disturbing and threatening at the beginning. Figures shuffle across the stage in soul-deadening desolation, immersed in something complex. They look like detainees taking their walk on the prison yard behind bars. Musical inspiration for Johan Inger comes from songs by Nina Simone, starting with Black Swan. Not only the person, the music and the career of Nina Simone are symbols of change, but also the way it was conceived. The songs are twofold and speak of both sadness and joy. Johan Inger tries to make the wind of change visible in his choreography. Nina Simone sings about a bird, a dancer spreads her arms, flutters in the air like a bird. A choreography that glides, cracks and sputters in the crucible of creation. A complex dance that swirls the dancers across the stage. The enthusiasm is inexhaustible and the energy explosive. A fanning theme like a flower unfolding its petals at the first rays of sun. Explodes like nature in spring.
There is something in the performance that embraces you, a fascination with something for which you find no words. A playful, saturating spectacle. A moment of grace in a mad and often sobering world. The wind to lean against but also the cooling breeze. Self-reliance is also visualized with a fan, hairdryer, leaf blower, industrial wind turbine. Visual poetry and loving madness in a beautifully deepened narrative arc. The action translates into funny, slightly provocative situations, gentle humor as small jewels brought into the picture.
Dance, choreography, décor, staging create together a performance with the unexpected objects and movements. The inertia of the beginning gives way to rhythm and speed. The main components of a performance that builds to an ecstatic feeling of freedom. Suddenly light and legible.
Once again a clever, playful and unparalleled performance by Ballet Vlaanderen, a company to cherish.
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- PHOTOS: JOY performed by the Joffrey Ballet, © Cheryl Mann, other photos © Filip Van Roe[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVPpUqRjBU8[/embed]
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4Qfe_RvZw[/embed]