Using video, sound, lights and athleticism, the choreography shows men en pointe and a stunning feast for the eyes
Ballet BC presented AMJAD, the newest work by the Canadian dance company La La La Human Steps, at The Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver. Choreographer Edouard Lock unveiled the stunning show that incorporated a video film projection, sound, lights and some of the most athletic dancers in the country.
From the very beginning, the audience was saturated with a powerful treat that gripped until the end. Three circular screens were brought down and images of white pearls pulsed. By the time the dancers arrived on stage, they didn’t stop moving until the standing ovation they received on the opening night in Vancouver.
AMJAD was a wonderful blend of classic ballet in the purest sense, with the sharp movements of sped up contemporary dance. The most romantics of the ballets, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, are revamped with a touch of speed and a dash of freshness, along with new live music by Frédérick Lalonde. Images of a forest were projected throughout, based on works of the visual artist Armand Vaillancourt and using imagery from both ballets of the forest as the unconscious.
“These themes offer very interesting visual and narrative points of view that include both décor and costume elements in this play on memory, tradition and transcription,” says Edouard Lock, “It’s the interplay between historical representations of these works and their contemporary adaptation/deconstruction. It tells a story woven from other stories, if you will” (Ballet BC, 2007).
Dancers move their arms in the familiar movement of the swan, but rapidly; other Swan Lake references are the dancers “grooming” each other, and the ensemble lined up in an unsynchronized flock, as if in a wild setting.
The modern adaptations the show takes are the partner work, where a woman dancer lifts her male partner; the graceful pirouettes usually assisted by a male partner are split into quick spins stopped in mid-turn and re-directed the other way. Sudden lighting changes feel like cuts in a movie, making the experience like watching a live film.
A favorite surprise is the male dancer en pointe, doing bourées next to his female partner. His movements are graceful, yet strong, and the crowd almost forgets the rule that only females wear pointe shoes.
The overall effect of the show is an impressive punch of athleticism. The dancers defy the tiny ballerina image that is so traditional in ballet. They are strong, sturdy and ready to take on such technically difficult choreography.
Edouard Lock’s renown is well-deserved. His past work with David Bowie on the Sound and Vision tour, as well as Frank Zappa on The Yellow Shark concert, make him revered in the international scene.
