I have enormous admiration for Scottish Dance Theatre, watching the company develop and mature in the past decade into a world class ensemble of ten super talented contemporary dancers. They exude freshness and youthful energy, pushing the boundaries of expression and movement in collaboration with a hand picked team of exciting international choreographers. For this Spring tour around Scotland, England and Ireland, the programme of three distinctively different works simply dazzle the senses and enrich the mind.
In the Middle of the Moment, devised by Uri Ivgi and Johan Greben is a duet performed by Victoria Roberts and Toby Fitzgibbon, set to a sequence of soulful chamber music by Gyorgy Kurtag and Arvo Part. A girl in a black dress stands alone spot lit, slowly pacing around centre stage, an area suddenly illuminated as a nine foot bright white square. A young man also dressed in black enters the square -as if intruding - her personal confined space. They tentatively prowl around each other, meeting, touching, holding tight, letting go. It's the scenario of an everyday relationship, from close intimate friendship to break up and rejection.
Raising the tempo and sound levels 100%, Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter challenges our senses with his explosive, electrically charged piece, DOG. The starting point is a textual reference on dolphins being the only animals which communicate with each other. In this fast and furious thirty minute exploration of Darwin's theory of evolution, eight dancers in combat jeans and T shirts, mimic animal movements from dog, fish, mammals to ape and man with hip hop rhythmic agility and pulsating disco beat.
The highlight of the evening for a captivated audience was the utterly breathtaking, brilliantly conceived work entitled tenderhook, by the extraordinary choreographer Liv Lorent, whose award winning work, Luxuria is a masterpiece. The core essence of tenderhook is the music - the haunting sound of piano, cello and violin by film composer Ezio Bosso, which sends tingles down the spine. This is a visionary piece, combining music, colour, light (richly created by Jon Clark), smoke, Paul Shriek's pink and green costume design and beautifully graceful, balletic dancing.
A trio of men and women are all en pointe, swirling long ribbons in wide circular movements as they twirl round and round in perfect unison. The pace and mood develops scene by scene creating a strong dramatic narrative, exploring themes of love, desire, sexuality, loss and isolation. Couples waltz around the stage, two men embrace each other in moments of erotic intimacy, girls jump, skip and are lifted high in the air, their long hair flowing with an air of joy and freedom. It's almost impossible to describe the pure emotional expression of this magical, passionate piece. I didn't want it to end while my companion said at the interval "That was the best dance I have ever seen". Liv Lorent has created another exquisite, artistic masterpiece.
27th March, Newbury; 15 April, Skye; 18 April, Strontian; 25 April, Stirling; 3 May, Dunamaise; 7 May, Bray; 10 May, Sligo; 13 May, Galway; 16 May, Roscommon; 21 May, Blackpool.
Tour details www.scottishdancetheatre.com