list.co.uk/theatre Previews | DANCE
CONTEMPORARY DANCE FASE Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 24 & Sat 25 Jun
Since its premiere in 1982, Fase has become Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s most frequently performed work. Choreographed to the music of minimalist composer Steve Reich, as De Keersmaeker explains the piece ‘defines itself as an answer to the music’. It's less an illustration of Reich’s precise and mathematical compositions, more an expression of the music’s powerful combination of simple motifs building towards both complexity and immediacy. While De Keersmaeker recognises that ‘part of my training
was in ballet’, her choreography is recognisable within the post-modern tradition in dance – especially 1960s artists such as Trisha Brown – through its cool application of technique and abstraction. Equally, she says, her work is ‘anchored in European dance, such as German Expressionism and especially Pina Bausch’. Through this mixture of influences, De Keersmaeker attracts a diverse audience, as her style has developed a distinctive and accessible identity.
Fase’s premiere marked her out as an important
choreographer, but its presence in her repertoire has made it perhaps her signature work, as she notes ‘the audience knows more about the history of the piece now’. Nevertheless, she defends its continued relevance: ‘It cannot not be contemporary art, the body is the most contemporary medium you can imagine.’ Since De Keersmaeker first choreographed Fase on herself, she retains a clear sense of its impact, noting that the mathematical exactitude of the music and movement vocabulary allows the dancers to perform in a space on the cusp of discipline and freedom. Her belief that dance is a ‘total’ art form emerges as what has been called a ‘dramaturgy of intensity’. Details interact to focus attention and, much like the four pieces within Fase, become more than the sum of their parts. (Gareth K Vile)
CONTEMPORARY FOLK ROB HEASLIP DANCE: FREAGRA | A BLURRED EXPANSE Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 1 & Sat 2 Jul
Growing up in rural south-west Ireland, Rob Heaslip soaked up more than just the rain. The atmosphere and culture set his creative juices flowing, which were then honed during his time as a dancer with Siamsa Tíre, the acclaimed National Folk Theatre of Ireland. Since 2010 Heaslip has been creating his own work, drawing on contemporary dance styles –
but he has never forgotten his roots.
‘A lot of my work puts folk tradition in a contemporary context,’ says Heaslip. ‘I’m often
surprised when this is hailed as new and original, because for me it seems like the most natural thing in the world. People often assume that folk belongs only to the past, but for me folk is very much alive in the present.’
Working in collaboration with his company of dancers, dramaturgist Brigid McCarthy and composer Ross Whyte, Heaslip’s latest work, FREAGRA | A Blurred Expanse, explores notions of identity and group dynamics. ‘I’ve always had an interest in making dance performance that is based on human interactions,’ he says, ‘and this has developed into detailed and complex partner-work, which has become a trademark of my choreography. Identity is such an incredibly important thing to us as humans and to my work, and in FREAGRA | A Blurred Expanse the stage becomes a lens through which we examine subconscious impulses, and how and when we act on those.’ (Kelly Apter)
LITERARY DANCE BLOOM Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Jun
She broke our hearts in A Streetcar Named Desire, made us laugh in Cinderella and never failed to impress with her flawless technique and delivery. But now, after 13 years with Scottish Ballet, Eve Mutso is going it alone – not only as a dancer, but a choreographer.
One of four emerging dancemakers creating work for Tramway’s Bloom showcase, Mutso will perform Unknown, a new solo piece inspired by her own experience of branching out.
‘It’s very relevant to what’s happening in my life at the moment,’ says Mutso. ‘I left Scottish
Ballet four months ago, and I’m entering into this unknown period, so I wanted to create a work that expresses my hopes and fears.
‘I was always a creative dancer - if a role came along I always tried to give it my own edge,
so I knew there was something there. And now time and circumstance has allowed me to put more effort into it.’
Alongside Mutso, Bloom will also feature a duet by Julie Cunningham and solo by Charlotte Jarvis, both of whom have been inspired by works of poetry, and a duet by Rosalind Masson.
‘It’s very exciting to see new, blooming artists putting on short works,’ says Mutso, ‘and a great way to introduce people to new dancemakers, and give us, as choreographers, a chance to have that challenge.’ (Kelly Apter)
2 Jun–1 Sep 2016 THE LIST 95