Points of View

So last night, despite having a million and one things to do before heading to London today, I went to the ballet with a friend of mine and was very glad I did. The opera house in Amsterdam is often referred to as the 'Stopera' due to the demonstrations that occurred during the building of the modern structure that sits looking out over the picturesque centre of Amsterdam. It's a great building, if with a slightly off target decoration scheme involving some Miami Vice-esque lighting around some of the bars, the seating is comfortable with air conditioning vents under each one, and bewildering seating numbering that devides the hall in half by ''Even" and "Oneven" which results in a lot of clambering over your fellow patrons.

The main reason I went for the evening of modern dance, entitled Points of View was for a piece choreographed by Hans van Manen who is arguably one of the Netherlands' most progressive and talented artists.

There were four short pieces in all, each about 15-20m long and as we found out after sitting there was to be an interval after each one!

The first piece entitled 'Duets' was choreographed by Merce Cunningham to the credo 'Dance is motion, no emotion'. It was a very post-modern piece supported by a ranging tempo of African percussion beats. The dancers appeared on stage in highly colourful pairs, using each others bodies to lean and support each other, in a combination of modern and classic movements. There was an excellent moment towards the end where the couple were using each others' bodies as pivots to lower and raise each other from the floor. Very original, and as the choreographer had intended, very much about the motion.

After an unwelcome break, the highlight of the evening began for me with Kammerballet. The ballet was set to a piece of live piano music, reminiscent in style of Chopin or Satie. The piece began as each dancer, dressed in muted browns or yellows arrived on stage each carrying a stool and cruising each other in what can only be called a sultry manner. In a stroke of costuming genius the male dancers were wearing almost cut off shorts, while the females donned what is traditionally the male full body suit. The dancers took turns to to pair up, with one excellent scene where the female stood behind her seated partner and repeatedly threw him to the floor, they then exchanged places to complete the mutual cycle of abuse.

The finale was almost nihilistic in style with each of the dancers fading away leaving one black clad female dancer to slowly disintegrate. It was an immensely powerful piece, using stark contrast and no stage decoration, combined with the technical genius of van Manen and the undisputed talent of the dancers.

After a further, now welcome, break we were treating to the third piece entitled Since which has its world premiere two weeks ago. The piece is choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and set on an almost empty stage, with nothing but white streamers hanging from the ceiling and the dancers elegantly dressed in either black or white Filippa K outfits. The music was ethereal and electronic, and lighting was used to powerful effect.

My initial reaction was that some of the dancing was sloppy with the first duet the female dancer was almost thrown or dragged around. When the second duet commenced with a new couple the movement was more coherent and the corps de ballet supporting them very effectively. The ending was very poignant with the man trying to drag the female away for her surrounding dancers, but her falling lifeless as he does. There was also a very strong moment when the male dancer was illuminated strongly from stage left and struggled with his hands and body to move forward even though he was blinded.

The final piece was called Hallelujah Junction and was choreographed by Ted Brandsen, the artistic director of Het Nationale Ballet (Dutch National Ballet). The piece began with two male dancers appearing on stage and in what could have been a stand off or a come on intertwined with each other; more and more male dancers appeared and started their strange courting movement ; there was an element of the gangland about it as the boys, all dressed in black unfurled around one another.

At this point I remarked to myself it was quite dramatic to see Dutch ballet dancers: they are enormous! Very different to the ones I'm used to seeing at Sadlers Wells or the ROH. There was one movement with them windmilling that I thought they might lift off!

The piece was for a corps de ballet and gained momentum as the stage filled eventually with some female dancers. Overall the effect was a little chaotic at times, but the talent of several of the dancers shone through and I look forward to seeing them in the future (in or out of the ballet!).

You can see a mini video here.