To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Rosas: Mitten wir im Leben sind/Bach6Cellosuiten
Bach inspires a rigorous and innovative approach to dance
Choreographed from the music: Mitten wir im Leben sind
[Anne Van Aerschot ]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
ANNA TERESA DE KEERSMAEKER was only 23 when she established her company Rosas in 1983 and she has since gone on to choreograph numerous experimental works.
An earnest rebellion against traditional ballet’s conventions unites her varied output and this British premiere of Mitten wir im Leben sind — “in the midst of life” — is no exception.
The music itself is her subject. In a rare collaboration with famous cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, who plays all six suites of Bach’s cello concerto, De Keersmaeker choreographs from the music in a quest to create an affinity with it, as opposed to music being an accompaniment to the dance.
The production asserts a democratic defiance. All seats are priced equally and no orchestra pit or curtain distances performers from audience. Wearing simple, everyday clothes, dancers and cellist stroll onto the bare stage with the house lights still on.
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