Sadler’s Wells, London
April 19, 2023
The recent Nederlands Dans Theater triple bill at Sadler’s Wells was not your normal spectacle. If you were going to the theatre looking for an escape from reality, perhaps even a few minutes of laughter and silliness, then it was definitely not the show for you. But if you wanted to dive into the dark and ugly moments of life and dreams through grotesque movements, it proved the perfect evening: a show to make the heart rate rise.
Let me paint a more defined picture. Imagine a lonely road on a foggy, rainy night. The only light source is a flickering bulb in a half-destroyed bus stop. Not the scene from a horror movie, although it could be, but the staging for, La Ruta, which is about as close to that genre as theatre can get.
Directed by Gabriela Carrizo, La Ruta tells different, grotesque stories that happened in that one road. As the night goes on, the events become more and more nightmare-like and events start mixing, any sense of logic and time linearity disappears.
Carrizo presents a series of tragedies. Some are very close to reality, such as the death of people or animals that were ran over by cars. Others, like the transplant of a heart from a deer to a man, are taken from wild nightmares. We see spirits and drunken people unable to move away from the road, trapped there despite their efforts to use their broken or numb limbs to ran away.
Photo Rahi Rezvani
It all fells very real thanks to the dancers, who helped develop the piece, and their incredible control. They were not afraid to look for new movement, and none was too unflattering, unnatural or risky for them.
The lighting, sound effects and choreography could not fail to put everyone in alert mode. Structured in a series of scenes, each character had a few minutes (or seconds) to show their selves. It all felt very cinematic.
Just one thought. Surprisingly, given the content, there seemed to be no trigger warnings. It’s not hard to imagine some of the stories that unfolded might hit close to home for some.
Jiří Kylián’s Gods and Dogs explores the fine line that divides insanity and normality, health and illness, strength and weakness. Its theme is how the individuals walk this line and how, throughout their lives, some might be pushed to one side or the other. A choreographic masterpiece, it was again outstandingly performed.
The highlights come in the combination of intricate and innovative movement and the way each dancer or pair explores the space that surrounds them. You can never guess what the next step will be. Just as in life, we are not able to predict what or when we will be pushed out of the line. Kylián always surprises with new sequences and steps, forms and shapes. A delight to watch.
Photo Joris-Jan Bos
The closing piece, Figures in Extinction [1.0] by Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney is an empathetic work of art. The dancers embody different animals that have become extinct using many techniques and illusions. Employing light, their bodies and a few props, they recreate a whole diversity of living creatures and natural elements. They make us wonder: ‘Why did they have to disappear? Did we do enough to prevent it? Are we now doing better?’ And, as a young girl echoes at different times during the piece, we also ask ourselves, ‘Are they gone forever?’
As the other works, the dance was not the only remarkable element. Figures in Extinction [1.0] is a very rich and detailed piece that makes the audience rethink where the world is going and what we are doing with it.
The music, interlinked with narrations from Why Look at Animals? by John Berger helps too. The dancers embody each word and sentence, bringing it to life.
Overall, Figures in Extinction [1.0] is a very touching piece that also comes with bits of bitter comedy portrayed through wonderful dancing and intelligent, outstanding staging and production.