Rambert Labyrinth of Love Tour 2013

The annual arrival of Rambert is always a feast. The company fully grasp the notion that an audience will enjoy a full evening and an element of variety – and as ever this they delivered.

The first element is a new work, Labyrinth of Love, choreographed by Marguerite Donlon with music by Michael Daugherty, visuals by Mat Collishaw, lighting by Charles Balfour and set and costumes by Conor Murphy. It’s quite a list but what is most impressive is that, on watching, it is as if it has been conceived and realised by one mind, so cohesive is the vision. Soprano Kirsty Hopkins is as at home on the stage as any of the dancers and they, as ever, give their all in a performance that is nigh on perfect. Tender, erotic and at the same time witty, never taking things too seriously, even images of snakes and burning orchids, so easily rendered as phallic clichés, work well.

Monolith which follows has fewer visuals but showcases the disciplined precision of the company. A tender work that eventually brought a tear to my eye.

L’Après Midi d’un Faune is Rambert’s working of the classic Nijinsky performance that shocked and thrilled the world of dance when it was first performed in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on May 29, 1912. In Rambert’s recreation we see just how that moment was a turning point for both ballet and modern arts. Miguel Altunaga as the faun executes the work beautifully with a restrained precision that seems so far away from the exuberance of contemporary dance.

The evening closes with Mark Baldwin’s What Wild Ecstasy, a savage and vibrant finale that draws on his own Fijian childhood and conjures images of commedia dell’arte and European folk dance forms in an explosion of colour and movement.

Rambert can dance, that we know, but they can also deliver and evening of sublime entertainment that is truly satisfying.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 13 February

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