S(C)ENT

Premiere	Ballet Basel, 2007
UK Premiere	New English Contemporary Ballet 2007
Choreography	Richard Wherlock
Music:	Franz Schubert	Symphony No 7 (Unfinished)
		1 Allegro Moderato
		2 Andante con moto
Costumes	Heidi de Raad
Rehearsal Director	Cristiana Sciabordi

Wherlock’s first source of inspiration for S(c)ent was Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony which has long held a fascination for him, which he has come to know well from repeated listening and which provided him with the start of an idea for his choreography. But it was a chance encounter with a manager from the perfume industry which was the trigger for this piece. Wherlock was intrigued to learn that not only did the perfume firm produce exclusive and expensive scents, but that it also manufactured a wide range of smells, everything from car aromas to the smell of ground coffee, for use in all kinds of situations where the illusion created by a particular odour could alter perceptions and even influence situations.

As his ideas for the piece evolved, he realised that as well as being interested in the evocative power of smell, he was also drawn to the idea of the senses more generally, and with particular reference to human relationships. How does one person interpret the sensory signals that another emits? And what about the sensory signs that others associate with us when we are no longer present? A specific aroma or a taste on the tongue has the power to remind us of a past but unforgettable presence.

Dancers

Linda Duclos
Marina Sánchez Garrigós
Rachel Maybank
Alexandra Sklavos

Kyle Davey
Jean-Michel Sinisterra Munoz
Eddie Pezzopane
Alastair Postlethwaite

SIDEWINDING

Premiere	Ballett Basel, Switzerland, 2002
UK Premiere	New English Contemporary Ballet 2006 Tour
Choreography	Richard Wherlock
Music	Jean-Philippe Rameau
		Selected excerpts from Nais,
		Zoroastre and Platée
Rehearsal Director	Benoit Egloff

   
The sidewinding of snakes is like the galloping of horses. It is the snake's fastest way of travelling. The movement in Sidewinding is inspired by the slithering race of snakes over the sand.

“This is the pure joy of dance, with couples and soloists searching, chasing, missing and finding each other translated into a flowing, elegant and fast-paced language that expresses the essence of our present-day appreciation of dance.”
Aargauer Zeitung, 1.10.2002

“… slithering fast-snaking floor patterns [with] couples, trios and individuals finding, losing each other, connecting but always moving, swift but graceful….the work warmed [NECB] to their European contemporary goal”
Dance Europe, Sept 2006

Dancers

Claudia Czyz
Linda Duclos
Pascaline di Fazio
Marina Sánchez Garrigós
Rachel Maybank
Alexandra Sklavos

Kyle Davey
Jean-Michel Sinisterra Munoz
Eddie Pezzopane
Alastair Postlethwaite
Julien Leboulanger

TURRET

Choreographer	Vanessa Fenton
Music	Kangding Ray(David Letterllier)	Mai
	Senking (Jens Massel)	Great Day
Costume Designer	Bruce French

Turret.noun. 1. A small tower, usually one forming part of a larger structure. 2. a small tower at an angle of a building, as of a castle or fortress, frequently beginning some distance above the ground.

A turret carries more meaning than that of a physical structure. In fairy tales it is often a place of entrapment or imprisonment. I wanted to capture the idea of attempting to break free from something, from someone, or even from oneself, of escaping from structure and confinement. Is structured freedom illusory?

Dancers

Marina Sanchéz Garrigos

Kyle Davey
Jen-Michel Sinisterra Munoz
Alastair Postlethwaite

.com together

World Premiere	New English Contemporary Ballet 2008 Tour
Choreography	Jamie Thomson
Music	Autechre	Rotar
	Trentemoller	Into the Trees (Serenetti Part 3)
Costume Design	Heidi de Raad

The technological age claims to bring people together, with online messaging, social networking websites and email, but in reality it has created a world where the need for physical interaction and personal responsiveness to feelings and emotions is lost. Why do so many people today choose to opt out of real life for hours on end and inhabit instead the isolated world of cyber relationships?

“Real space” relationships offer potent and beautiful possibilities that “virtual” relationships can never achieve – the warmth of touch, of subtle response to mood, expression or gesture. These intimacies are what reinvigorate and “rehumanise” us; they give us life and allow us to escape from the sterility of the internet chatroom.

This piece sets out to capture this very contemporary contrast. Strong and almost robotic at times, it also provides moments of great tenderness. It is an abstract celebration of the power of real human relationships over the isolation of life lives at the “virtual” level.

Dancers

Linda Duclos
Marina Sánchez Garrigós
Alexandra Sklavos/Pascaline di Fazio

Kyle Davey
Jean-Michel Sinisterra Munoz
Eddie Pezzopane

IN C SHARP MINOR

World Premiere	New English Contemporary Ballet 2008 Tour
Choreography	Davide Bombana
Music	Ludwig Van Beethoven	String Quartet in C Sharp Minor (Op 131)
	Dimitri Mitopoulos	arranged for String Orchestra

 

“Whenever I create a ballet I use one of two possible points of departure or sources of inspiration. Sometimes it is a dramatic plot that intrigues me, pushing me to realise it and find the right music to support the clarity of the story-telling and its development. On other occasions a piece of music fascinates and moves me and urges me to do something with it. In this work it is as if the music took me by the hand. By trying to find the “core” of it I let myself be led by the feelings and passion that it suggested to me.

I have always loved the late Beethoven String Quartets, for their purity of form and for their incredible depths. They are almost frighteningly monumental. When I heard the lively and passionate orchestration of Mitropoulos’ interpretation of Op.131 I knew it was the one to go for. The rounder quality of the string orchestra seemed to me to be even more suitable for dance than the original string quartet itself. With such music combined with the power of dance, a story becomes irrelevant. I sincerely hope that the way this music moves me will come across to you as you watch my ballet”

DB   

Dancers

Linda Duclos
Marina Sánchez Garrigós
Rachel Maybank
Alexandra Sklavos

Kyle Davey
Jean-Michel Sinisterra Munoz
Eddie Pezzopane
Alastair Postlethwaite