A concise and diverse triple bill of dance is welcomed for the first time to Poland at Wrocław’s striking Opera House. Offering a varied visual experience, recently appointed Ballet Director of Wrocław Opera, Małgorzata Dzierżon’s work Flight is modestly programmed as the opener. It’s followed by Meryl Tankard’s choreography to Ravel’s much loved Boléro, and after these two brief divertissements, its central focus is Javier de Frutos’ stylish and sophisticated Elsa Canasta. Complete with an on stage singer, you’ll think you’ve stepped into a musical, perhaps An American in Paris or Cole Porter’s High Society, fittingly so, given he’s responsible for the music here too.
Curiously, there is no specific spotlight in any of the pieces. In all three, the choreography is shared, there are no grand solos or flashy principals to steal attention. The corps must work together with well-drilled timing to create an impression.
Created for Rambert in 2016, for whom Dzierżon was formerly a member, Flight loosely explores freedom of movement although there is no particular narrative. To begin, a duo in shapeless grey costumes dance a pas de deux full of stoic physicality, the female standing on the male legs, looking for means of escape. They eventually give away to a parade of dancers in bolder, brighter outfits and the clever designs (also by Dzierżon) of moving panels implying enforced borders. The panels move to form various scenarios, a revolving door, confined and vast spaces the dancers must negotiate to remain together. Their environment forever shifting but no one wanting to be left behind.
Dzierżon’s work is muted and soft, understated but with undertones of sorrow. Perhaps significantly, it was completed on the day of the Brexit vote seven years ago.
Many a ballet has been programmed to Ravel’s signature music over the years, Maurice Béjart and Mats Ek to name two. Meryl Tankard knew originality would be necessary and this piece of dance art is certainly unique. Performed entirely by dancers lit only as silhouettes and backlit in various textures and sizes, this is more a dance film than a live performance, but the effect is no less engaging. While Tankard says she wished to evoke a greater sense of drama with the looming shadows and intriguing costumes, I felt something was lost as the score inevitably intensified.
Without access to the dancer’s faces, we do not see emotion, only feel it through the music. The figures interact, relationships developing between them unclearly and so the impact is diluted somewhat and in those dramatic final moments I can’t help but think about Torvill and Dean flinging themselves onto the ice instead. However, the overall experience is intense, the vibrant colours of the backdrop mean it is hard to look away and your attention will not divert for the 15 minute duration.
Flight and Boléro serve as mere aperitifs to the opulence and 1950s glamour of de Frutos' main event. A rip roaring treat of daring leaps, live vocals, interplay between the corps as they slink up and down a silver staircase, comes together for a thrilling ride.
Originally created in 2003, (also for Rambert) it is based on the story of when Diaghilev’s ballet company was touring in Venice. Diaghilev always told his dancers to stay on the ground floor so they could jump out of the window if they could not afford the bill. In Venice, the situation arose. Porter, also there at the time, offered to pay the bill as long as the dancers would perform at a party for him. The result was Elsa Canasta. The Elsa is Elsa Maxwell, a 1920s socialite, while Canasta refers to the popular card game that was all the rage in the 40s and 50s.
Vocalist, Tomasz Rudnicki, whose character anchors the action, is a mature man reflecting on his past. However, Elsa Canasta does not tell just one story but several. He looks on wistfully at the younger dancers, perhaps imagining himself as one of the cheeky men who teases the selection of flirtatious ladies.
There are also moments of great classical elegance, partnering with pirouettes and arabesques, before more raucous and fast moving chaos. It’s eye-catching, fun and vivid. The only slight niggle is the female dancers are wearing canvas ballet shoes, presumably for the practicalities of running up and down a staircase for 35 minutes, but a little is lost in the pleasing lines they would create with a bit more height. As the interplay reaches its conclusion, the ladies fling themselves from the top of the staircase into the arms of the waiting body of males before laughing and cavorting some more until Rudnicki is left as a final, lone figure.
Three pieces and an interval polished off in just 1 hour and 45 minutes makes for fast paced programming in which there is a lot to digest, but the attractive designs and unique themes which run throughout mean the originality holds appeal beyond just lovers of dance.
