A needed decampment from tradition, this collaborative performance is ambitiously new
The evening begun with Andrea Balency-Béarn’s Appels, a great piece to get everyone in the mood for the upcoming Stravinsky, as written in response to Les Noces, Appels utilises four pianos, creating a beautifully discordant yet focused sound which rung out around the huge open metal-filled space of Woolwich Works. Moving smoothly onto Cage Letters by Yshani Perinpanayagam, the love letters of John Cage to Merce Cunningham are set to frantic piano, during which the dancers of New Movement Collective find their way onto the stage, ready for the main event, Les Noces.
Les Noces, or The Wedding (music by Stravinsky, choreography from Bronislava Nijinska) was first performed in 1923, a story of a Russian peasant wedding. The New Movement Collective transform the original ballet into something specifically for today, centred on community and interpersonal bonds. The dancers oscillate across the long narrow stage, never loosing sight of each other. It felt like what temporarily become lost was always found again; there were no loose ends. The dance then centred itself on the the communal recusing of isolated or estranged individuals. Visually, wedding elements were woven through the New Movement Collective’s rendition, with the dancers wearing beige and whiteish coloured modern suit trousers and cropped jackets which are eventually tied together to form a long, trailing veil.
Stravinsky’s score for four pianos was impressively performed, along with the percussion and timpani. At points, it felt like you were listening to a whole symphonic orchestra as the sound was so powerful, matched with the singing from the Opera Holland Park Chorus. Soloist performances from the soprano April Koyejo Audiger and the baritone Ross Rambogin really took you back with their vocal strength.
Stravinsky’s Les Noces is such a historical and traditional work, subject to repeated reinterpretation. However the New Movement Collective, rather then attempting to offer up their own re-do of Les Noces, it felt more like a response to that cultural moment, an echo from the future. I think there was something quite dystopic about Les Noces – The Departure, some vision of the future in which we might only have each other. The somewhat sentimentality I felt after was brightened however by the closing piece from Company Chameleon Youth and ENBYouthCo, as young performers collaborated with the impressive beatboxer MC Zani, and created a spirited and more animalistic response to Les Noces.
This whole project, a mass collaboration between so many groups and individuals, was a perfect piece to perform at Woolwich Works. Being a fairly new arts venue, I hope Les Noces – The Departure, will put it on more audience’s radars. It is an incredible venue, being in what was the Royal Arsenal. Its long history has been maintained and the huge renovated industrial spaces ares classy and versatile. I recommend keeping an eye on their upcoming events.