Rambert Reviews 'Golden Section' reviews

Rooster is the closing send-them-home-happy work of the programme, which includes a new work by company member Rafael Bonachela, a new work commissioned from Jeremy James, and a recent Tharp acquisition, The Golden Section. Three Gone, Four Left Standing opens the proceedings - Bonachela’s first work as choreographer, originally made at a company workshop. It’s for three women and one man, and is set to some improvised viola playing from a member of Rambert’s orchestra, and to a number of poems, written and recited by company member Elizabeth Old, who also appears in the work. The combination of dance and the spoken word seemed to me to be very distracting: if you attempted to follow one it was at the expense of the other. Towards the close of the work, the recorded voices were layered over one another to form more of an impressionistic soundscape than a specific text - this seemed to work better. It was an abstract and rather cheerless work: there were a few fine moments shortly before the close which seemed to promise better things as Paul Liburd and his partner supported each other in some long drawn out balances as the lighting slowly played with the size of their shadows. Unfortunately the rest of it wasn’t that memorable.

The Tharp infiltration of British Dance companies continues - the Royal, BRB and now Rambert have acquired works by her in the last few years. Rambert’s is The Golden Section - originally the conclusion of a longer work, but now often given on its own. It was a much livelier and more upbeat experience than the opening work, and gets a much more vibrant audience response. It’s a busy, busy, busy work - dancers race on now from one side, now from the other, relentlessly fast and athletic. The effect depends very much on speed and commitment, and the company looked in good shape and seemed to be enjoying the experience (though Matthew Hart is trying too hard to be cute). I wonder what it would be like to look at Tharp in a slow motion replay: if you could watch any classical work in slow motion you should still be able to see and grasp each individual step, what it was and what it is for, and it would (should !) still be beautiful. But if you looked at Tharp’s choreography like that, I wonder if the individual components would look quite as impressive. But then she seems to be after quite different effects, and what she does works in its own terms when attacked with enough energy and vigour. The Golden Section is short, only fifteen minutes, but feels right at that length. It’s unfair to pick out any of the thirteen dancers involved - this was very much a team effort.

Christopher Bruce has gone outside Rambert to commission independent dance maker Jeremy James. His work is entitled Gaps, Lapse and Relapse and the music was commissioned from Peter Morris. I suspect your thoughts on this depend on your views on or experience of the club culture which informs the music and the dance. Six dancers dressed for a casual night out prowl about the stage. The choreography barely differentiates between the women and the men. The dancers rarely interact directly with one another. When they do it is the kind of ‘what are you looking at’ confrontation which would be the start of a fight in your average pub. One section where the lighting (designed by Ian Beswick) confined each dancer within their own defined territory around which they stalked seemed particularly effective. One dancer frequently stands quite still in the middle or at the side of the action, completely detached from it. Maybe it’s this particularly that stuck with me - it may have revived some dreadful adolescent memories of wondering why everyone is having such a great time at the party except you - but I found the work rather bleak and depressing. It was well put together: I think it might read better in a smaller venue (which I suspect James is used to). For the record, I was in the front of the upper circle, but somehow I didn’t feel that the work was projected as effectively as it might be: sitting closer to the stage might have been much more involving. Some people at the same performance thought it was great fun: but some sitting near me refused to applaud at all, which is fairly unusual.

Still, if you feel too old for Jeremy James, then you’re probably the right age for Rooster, Bruce’s ever popular setting of early Rolling Stones songs. Even after all this time it remains very popular at the box office. I do wish Rambert would give fuller details on the cast lists so the audience could know who appeared in each item - it would be nice to know who was Ruby Tuesday, or whatever. Otherwise, no complaints - the dancers must know this piece backwards now and are quite ready to let their hair down. It remains very funny and enjoyable, and sent the almost-capacity house out into a rainy night in an upbeat and cheerful mood.