The Nottingham Theatre Royal is a beautiful theatre.
I hadn't been to the Nottingham Theatre Royal before; I have watched plays in Nottingham Playhouse but never there.
FLIGHT
The first dance we sat down to watch at the Nottingham
Theatre Royal was ‘Flight’, which is described on the Theatre Royal website as
‘The final work from Britain’s national dance company explores the subject of
migration. Flight uses multimedia projections to create an ever-shifting
backdrop as dancers dramatise the emotional journey of leaving one home to
search for another.’
I enjoyed the use of projections in this dance, and was
intrigued by the beginning, which started with one woman on stage. I have been
lucky enough to see professional performances in the past, but these were
musicals. One of the biggest fears I had about watching a live dance
performance without any singing was that I would get bored.
This didn’t happen with Flight.
I loved the use of the multimedia projections, the rough
texture it created allowed me to see the interactions the dancers made with the
walls as painful and
One thing I also enjoyed about Flight was the relationships
shown in the two duet segments. The first one, between a man and a woman, was wonderful
to watch, especially the footwork. Although the movements were slow, the feet
were constantly moving.
The second duet, between two females, was also intriguing. I
loved the parallels used via motifs from the first duet. The lighting used also
changed the dynamics of the duet. The way the two women interacted seemed
violent, whereas the projection used on the walls behind made the duet seem
romantic.
Hydragyrum
The second dance was called Hydragyrum. This piece was
definitely the most abstract of the three dance pieces shown. It was performed
under a revolving mirror, and the insidious beginning made me a sense of dread
that stayed with me through the entire dance. The group of dancers, identical
and anonymous, used very static movements in the beginning, which also added to
the insidious feeling.
One downside of the revolving mirror was that it reflected
the orchestra, most specifically the conductor. Since the mirror was such a
large presence on the stage, it stopped me from being completely enhanced.
I felt as if though the dance was about public image. Not
only was the mirror reflecting the dancers back down to themselves, the face
all the dancers wore the same outfit and had no face meant that what the
dancers saw was themselves... until the clothes came off.
I have enjoyed non-naturalistic performances in the past,
and liked how the stripping of the clothing, the revelation of the dancers’
faces, turned the movements more naturalistic and free-flowing.
I liked how, when the group became individuals, the mirror
had revolved around so that it wasn’t reflecting the dancers anymore. It added
another layer of dread however, because the dancers took on frightened
expressions.
Overall, it was a really interesting piece.
Ghost Dances
Finally, we watched Ghost Dances, which was my favourite
dance piece out of the three. I think that it was due to the fact it had the
clearest story line, and also included singing.
I was surprised by the storyline, and felt sympathy for the
characters, whose lives were ruined by ‘death’. I loved the contrasting lighting
used in the piece, bright and happy whilst celebrating life, but bleak and dull
when death comes. I loved that I was able to spot the motifs that we had
studied in our Dance class, and it was nice to see them performed properly.
The way the three ghost, dead men interacted was really interesting, and I liked how they seemed so in control of the living, especially since we had no idea at that point what was happening. I love how the theme of oppression was tackled in Christopher Bruce's work; it was really interesting to watch, and see the happiness of the living literally taken away by the mere presence of the three ghost dancers.
Overall, I enjoyed the story in the dance, which definitely made it more interesting for me, personally.
