THE GöTEBORG BALLET

RE:BAROQUE-KYLIAN/DUATO/FONTE

Review. With its Re: Baroque, the Göteborg Opera has treated us to an evening of dance filled with beauty and with a good measure of zest at the end. The collective name, Re: Baroque, was chosen to show that the dances form a stylised comment on the Baroque period with its predilection for form in motion, in curves, in gold, glitter and in endless rapture.
The Göteborg Opera ballet company treats us to a truly rewarding evening filled with beauty, imagination and joy. So sit back and enjoy.
Vibeke Carlander, Borås Tidning 3 March, 2004

Bubbling energetic dancing
Exaggerations, twisting shapes and transformations – here Baroque stands for unbounded mobility which alters existence and lets shadows into the light. A force that, in other words, grasps the very essence of dance.
From a choreographic point of view we again are treated to today’s established European dance creators that the ballet company has already introduced us to; Nacho Duato, JiríKylián and Nicolo Fonte, the latter an American who has had a long association with Duato in Madrid and whose breakthrough work “In hidden seconds” was handled perfectly by the dancers last year.

Now Fonte has created an entirely new work for 17 of the dancers of the Göteborg Opera corps de ballet. “Follia” alludes to Vivaldi’s trio variations on an old dance melody which Diego Dall’Osto in turn has molded into an electro-acoustical sounding box which, from time to time, releases familiar melody fragments.

Follia means insanity but here it is more of a play with codes and hiding places which even encompasses the dance and the costumes (Lourdes Frias) and above all a hazy baroque perspective in space without a central point. Moving screens and platforms either hide or lift the dancers who also crowd in from the periphery, isolated, in duets or in groups.

Set designer Markus Pysall’s eye-catcher is a shockingly large marble-white garland of leaves which could easily have been a detail taken from a Bernini sculpture.
Heather Telford moves around this erotic form in a winged costume. But she is hardly a sylph. She is rather a mobile yet strong symbolic figure who dances in counterpoint to a quartet of men in red skirts before she finally disappears.
Anna Ångström, Svenska Dagbladet 1 March, 2004

Fonte’s choreography shows temperament and power…
The numerous mini-pas-de-deux contain great clarity and match the Vivaldi-Dall’Osto music emanating from the orchestra pit – imaginative and full of surprises.
Margareta Sörenson, Expressen/GT 29 February, 2004

Re:Baroque is lightning quick, intensive choreography filled with spectacular and surprising movement.
Örjan Abrahamsson, Dagens Nyheter 1 March, 2004

The Göteborg Opera’s spring program, Re: Baroque offers us a completely successful dance evening where the Baroque period is the cement and the music the starting point. Three choreographers open all our senses wide, mixing austere severity with exhilarating frolic. In Nacho Duato’s Arcangelo the dancers glide around, supple, floating and airy in a gold-tinged haze. In Nicolo Fonte’s Follia the whole stage swirls with developing dance. And in Jirí Kylián’s exhilarating Sechs Tänze to the music of Mozart’s German dances we are presented with an amusing, joyful dance play.
Dance: The Göteborg Operaballet opens all our senses wide with this spring’s new tempting dance production. Re:Baroque turns an austere golden severity into an exhilarating dusty frolic.

For a long time now the Göteborg Operaballet has proved itself worthy of membership in the major league ofmodern European dance. The seal of quality is there to stay. Seldom, no, never, does one see a performance that is danced poorly. The proof is that famous choreographers are eager to let the company perform their – yes, even their most difficult – works. Names such as Kylián, Duato, Forsythe and Fonte are the rule rather than the exception in the repertoire of the company.

By extension however there a mainstream warning.Heaping much in demand choreographers one on top of the other in a pile or grouping them by threes as is usually the case can easily create standardization and jumble. Famous names get caught up in a vicious circle in the ballet companies of the west. The Göteborg Operaballet director, Kevin Irving, is well aware that the challenge lies in the choice of choreographers and that , with the spring program, Re:Baroque, he has succeeded admirably. The Baroque period was the cement and the music the starting point when he brought together three choreographers; Jirí Kylián, Nacho Duato and Nicolo Fonte.

Kevin Irving likes to emphasize the beauty of the dance and in Nacho Duato’s Arcangelo we see what he means. Arcangelo Corelli’s and Allesandro Scarlatti’s – the latter contributes an aria sung by countertenor Tobias Nilsson – beautiful adagios and lento movements with uninterrupted variations are at the very heart of Duato’s choreography. Four couples alternate in interpreting the music. In their movements one discerns a lovely lingering effect which matches the attack of the strings. The duet is the basic constellation but the couples are at times separated and re-united in new constellations. Thomas Zamolo is outstanding in his own separate solo. The dancers glide around, supple, floating and airy in their gold-tinged brown tights. This is a reflection of Duato’s own choreography: an austere golden frame supplemented by three piles of sand lit from underneath. Brad Field’s defuse, warm lighting contributes to the almost meditative feeling where the upward striving movement of the final scene stands out like a speculative sensation.

The variations are more broken up and exciting in Nicolo Fonte’s spanking new work, Follia. Diego Dall’Osto has composed modern music in an infiltrating dialog with Vivaldi. This is the art of transformation on a high level, conducted by Finn Rosengren wearing genuine disco headphones in the orchestra pit.

On the stage, a large baroque decoration dominates. Its meanderings form a sounding box for the transformations the dancers are undergoing. A theme of cyclical development inspired by insects can be felt in both Lourdes Frias’ costumes and in Fonte’s movements. Heather Taylor is a stylishly developed dragon-fly queen with strong authority despite her heavy wings and fragile legs. She is surrounded by workers and drones in varying stages of development. Color and form indicate the transition and mating rituals. Toe-dancing lends the women a feather-like air. Their delectable colors arouse the interest of the gray males. And with their colorful skirts, the men soon catch up. The whole stage swirls with developing dance. There is a lot to look at and, once the synchronization has been polished, to unreservedly enjoy.

Who can resist the finale, Jirí Kylián’s exhilarating Sechs Tänze to the music of Mozart’s German dances! Like abandoned wig blocks, the dancers lead a life of submission while the laced up lady’s gala toilettes exhibit a surprising life of their own. Once freed, the bodies are soon so aquiver with such joy and happiness that the powder from their wigs flies everywhere. Despite the spirit of frolic, this is a choreography which requires great precision. And for the corps de ballet of the Göteborg Opera nothing seems impossible, be it seriousness, desire or happiness. Everything is danced with the same radiant elegance.
Liz Hellerström Svenningson, GöteborgsPosten 1 March, 2004

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