Review- Eternal Light Rambert Dance Company
Venue: The Lowry
Date Reviewed: 29th September, 2008
The new production from the Rambert Dance Company begins with a series of endings. Eternal Light is a requiem for lost rainforests and extinct species. It shows the fear,and acceptance of death, along with the possibility of rebirth and details specific events. A crimson-lit stage overhung with crosses embedded with sparkling Swarovski crystals provides the background for a stirring dance to commemorate the fields at Flanders.
The requiem is a collaboration between artistic director Mark Baldwin and British composer Howard Goodall. It is a lush production featuring all 19 members of the dance company and live choral music beautifully sung by the Manchester University Chamber Choir, Ad Solem, with soloists Elizabeth Atherton and Adrian Powter.
Although the stage is left bare for much of the performance the dancers are elaborately costumed by Michael Howells.
At times you can’t help but wonder if this is a bit much. The toucan headdress by Stephen Jones provides a striking focal point but it might have been more interesting to challenge the dancers to convey the risk to endangered species in a more subtle way.
Ultimately Eternal Light feels a bit too polite as if, aware of the gravity of the subject, the company tried to avoid giving offence. As a result it feels peeved, rather than raging, at the dying of the light.
Christopher Bruce’s Swansong also tackles a disturbing subject but does so with much greater power. Eryck Brahmania and Alexander Whitley interrogate Thomasin Gulec using a variety of dance techniques set to the music of Philip Chambon. This might sound like it trivialises the subject but in fact is it a perfect illustration of the ambitions of dictators.
The interrogators force their victim to follow in their steps and, literally, dance to their tune. The final dance by Gulec is particularly moving as his body begins to fail but his spirit runs free.
Anatomica #3 by André Gingras with a score by Joseph Hyde and designs by Fabrice Serafino is a fun way to end the evening. The whole company gradually enters dressed like matrons. They perform a heel/toe/spin line dance and then strip down to more convention dance gear and, after inspecting their bodies, begin a very athletic display of dancing.
There is child-like abandon in the way they bounce around the stage and tumble from a ramp onto crash pads. It is a wonderful reminder that, even if life does have to come to an end, you can still have a lot of fun until it does.
-Dave Cunningham