SEVERAL STEPS SHORT
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The Move Dance Company, assisted by audience ring tones, fails to rivet
Canada’s Move Dance Company, performing at the Thailand Cultural Centre on Monday as part of Bangkok’s 13th International Festival of Dance and Music, wasn’t quite as captivating as I’d hoped for on my return to Thailand.
Led by artistic director Josh Beamish, the troupe began with a “tango ballet” called “The Red Nocturnal”. As choreography it was compelling, with a wide range of movements and formations that covered the whole stage, from sensuous slow duets and fiery pas de trois to a crisp group dance accompanied by march-like beats.
Not only did the simple red-and-black costumes well match the music, they also looked quite charming under the lights against the black backdrop.
However, in terms of technique, the ballet was not up to the standard I’d expected. Although the lead dancers could generally execute all the steps, the leg extensions of the ballerina in the opening pas de deux looked quite stiff, making the flawlessly synchronised coupling less impressive that it could have been.
The corps could not really dance in unison, and some seemed to have a hard time keeping their feet neatly pointed.
“Les Oiseaux” closed the first half on an interesting note with a reinterpretation of several ballet classics. Winged creatures and their princes from “Swan Lake”, “Firebird”, “Les Sylphides” and “Giselle” were taken from their original settings, stripped of their elaborate tutus and embroidered tops, and put on a modern stage barefoot.
The dainty steps of the swans and sylphs grappled nicely with the aggressive movements of the Firebird and Wilis, but the choreography was not memorable. A jazz rendition of the familiar leitmotif from “Swan Lake” was an admirable attempt to reiterate the “classics reworked” theme, but a little too gimmicky for my liking.
The second half consisted of the world premiere of “Atonement”, a contemporary ballet inspired by Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name and its movie adaptation.
On top of a large number of audience members returning late to their seats after the intermission – and a man waving his lit-up mobile phone to catch the attention of his even-later friend – the ballet was not special.
The production seemed torn between two concepts. While the abstract choreography and simple set tried to capture the essence of the novel without being too straightforward, it contradictorily relied too much on the film. There were short cinematic sequences, the clacking of a typewriter throughout, and the exact same music.
This result was not satisfying, and, although I’m normally a fan of minimalist staging, after two ballets featuring plain, solid-colour costumes and black backdrops, a third was on the verge of being boring.
The evening’s most memorable moment turned out to involve an all-male group dance during what looked like a war scene. The pack comprised highly skilled, energetic soloists whose movements were much more in harmony than any other group action of the night.
But back to the mobile phones: Apart from the rude entrance mentioned earlier, at least three different phones could clearly be heard during the show. Blunders in a fictional narrative might be forgiven, but not ring tones in a theatre.
And a note for the Canadian Embassy: Compagnie Marie Chouinard and La La La Human Steps are two companies you should have considered bringing to Bangkok instead – even if they wouldn’t stage any world premieres here.
LAST TWO
Bangkok’s 13th International Festival of Dance and Music continues through Sunday at the Thailand Cultural Centre.
Tonight you can hear Mariza, one of the world’s best fado singers, and on Saturday and Sunday the Ballet Nacional de Espa
