 | | Linear Remains |
Reviewer's rating: 4/5 Not wholly ballet, the athletic performers combine traditional practice with acro-balance and gymnastics, tossing themselves across the stage as weightless as birds. The performance brought together four contrasting pieces, the first 'Linear Remains' began in utter silence with only the breath of the dancers and the soft thump of their feet on the stark stage. It was completely captivating until the dreadful music dropped in uninvited! The static screeching took me by surprise and as the number of dancers increased it became too difficult to take everything in, with each performer dancing to a different beat. But the moments of synchronicity were wonderfully satisfying, that second when the separate becomes one for just a split second. Maybe this is the strength of the Company? They create a roller-coaster of emotions, you love it then hate it, are satisfied and annoyed all within the same half an hour! Concentration Having seen Rambert on several occasions I’ve never been disappointed. There’s a concentration on the finer details that only become apparent when you least expect them. In ‘A Tragedy of Fashion’, the fourth movement, the costumes are totally delicious, from the pink polka-dot puffball dress to the brief emergence of bright red socks beneath pinstripe suit trousers. A coffin centre stage flagged by dancers in fine '20s dresses, heads topped with a big black feathery plume, and swishing strings of pearls, a reminder of the hearse horses of a funeral procession, brings a sense of ‘film noir’ to the stage. One moment of total brilliance comes as the dancers take their positions in a mock-up studio, they stretch at the bars as the lighting reveals more dancers behind reflecting exactly the movements of those in front. The audience gasped!
 | | Elsa Canasta |
For Rambert the dancing always comes first, the props are limited and there are only sets if they add an essential dimension to the work. Bum squeezing The final piece 'Elsa Canasta' placed a sweeping staircase as its focal point and all the connotations of the ‘wooden hill’ are explored creating a rather saucy performance. A warm sexual tension leaves you glowing inside. The gender boundaries are blurred and as the guest singer throws out Cole Porter numbers, the women leap from the top steps into the waiting arms of the men below. They must have hurt themselves doing that for the first time! You definitely have to watch out for the bum squeezing, actually you won’t miss it as the guys tweak the girls and the girls luridly touch up the guys! My only criticism would be that the Company often demand too much of the audience. They leave too many questions unanswered which becomes very distracting. There are instances of narrative that just don’t make any sense, they only become cohesive when you down your glass of wine in the interval and take a moment to read the programme. Northampton Community Dance Company Rambert invited a local dance company to create a performance for the intervals and eleven dancers from NCDC set themselves up in the foyer to present ‘Prayer for the Painted Lady’ and ‘Social Animals’. They were extremely well supported and as the audience surrounded them on all sides they captivated us for a brief 20 minutes as we supped on a swift half. What a brilliant opportunity for a local company to perform in the round for a large appreciative audience, especially alongside such a prestigious company. | 
