HERE
we will document your reactions
(it takes some time to get the Russian and English versions right, and we lost the first version, sorry, not the most competent ones…).
and BELOW, is an attempt at a review.
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TRIPLE BILL BY IVAN VASILIEV
Videos released of Triple Bill were beautiful, but it was impossible to judge choreography or staging with only one to two seconds of each sequence and maybe edited to get just the best moments or the best angle. Of course, I’m a fan of Ivan Vasiliev, the Dancer, but I didn’t really know what to expect and I was VERY curious. To see him dance would be good enough, if all else failed, to please me.
Well, now I have seen it and, IMHO Triple Bill is great!! All of it. It felt like a blessing to see a contemporary dance work that meets so many, maybe most criteria, of what I like in contemporary – as I get to them, I will number them.
First things first: choreography. Beautiful!!!! Far from banal, it uses the best of classical aesthetic, but goes well beyond – the whole body is summoned, and cleverly used (1!). Thankfully, it does NOT entail punishing the dancers with the weirdest twists and bends and the ugliest steps for originality’s sake (2!) – probably because there is no need to put the stress on originality, Ivan achieves it anyway. His choreographic language has a very distinct flavour. Plus, his choreography is very expressive. It is pretty obvious how deep Ivan’s understanding of body-language is (3!). His group either is made up of naturals too, or they were very well coached!
All three pieces are a pleasure to see. Ivan uses the stage space well in a diversity of compositions, but they come in sequence, or if not, in different planes that don’t compete. There is always a sense of unity, and/or emphasis, so it is easy on the eyes (4!). In consecutive frames, featuring duos, trios, different numbers of couples, you can choose to pay attention to each unit (good enough), but the whole is always another layer of beauty which is also achieved because the performer’s synchronicity was close to perfection. As a counterexample, watching “Entity” by Wayne MacGregor is an exhausting experience: there is so much going on, you don’t know where to focus, and there is not an overall idea or schema. When it came to an end, I had a head ache, and quietly promised myself never to watch it again!!
There are very few repeated sequences (you can’t help but notice that in some works repeated sequences don’t have any meaning, they just “fill” the score in an easier way. There are beautiful, beautiful lifts and jump sequences. Ivan puts his experience to excellent use! There are small pauses, where you feel momentum gathering to be released in the next second.
Also put to good use is Ivan’s great musicality. The dancing seemed to be the visual expression of the music, a very organic fit (maybe this is one of the reasons why Triple Bill leaves behind an impression of aesthetic harmony) (5!).
The “Corps” is there not just as background, carefully sliding from one beautiful pose to another, they dance, ah!! Ivan’s choreography is not easy. He uses their skills. They REALLY dance, and are amazing to watch (6!).
The pas de deux are stunning. Somehow, all of them are very moving, every one of them a great visual pleasure.
The staging meets all my criteria of excellence. To begin with, it is clean! I’m a fierce advocate for clean staging. I don’t think Dance needs a “frame”, on the contrary, Dance is so beautiful in itself, there is no need for tons of plumes and frills and gold to enhance its value. THIS is “circus”, for me! Cluttered scenarios and over decorated costumes that hide, limit and overburden movement, are absurd. Anything that diverts attention from the dancing, is absurd. That said…
The costumes are just PERFECT. All my praise goes to Alexandra Leonidov and to Ivan, for choosing her. Simple and beautiful (even the zombies!!), they enhance each work’s aesthetic and content to perfection, without being too “loud” or obstructive (7!). I don’t know if they are easy to dance with, but it seemed so. Of course, I cannot begin to imagine what it is like to dance with a blindfold, even if it is probably semi-transparent, but omg, the blindfolds are effective as a staging element!
The lighting was great! The colours, the choices and ways of emphasis – a great job, and I could not spot a single flaw in execution. In Blind Affair and Morphine it is a most important element, and helped play with our mood. Light, plus a handful of symbolic elements, that was all. Perfect, no more was needed (8!).
About Blind Affair.
The overall impression is of great beauty and harmony. The meaning Ivan wanted to impart is easily and definitely achieved! Blindfolds, as I said, have a great effect. It was a surprise, though. I expected a sombre, dark visual, but, there is a riot of well chosen colours and chains falling make quite an impression too! The choreography was pure visual pleasure, and the performance was one of 5 stars!
About Bolero.
WHAT A SURPRISE! It was almost incredible how Ivan was able to step completely out of Bejart’s influence, and create something totally new (very Ivan-like, BTW), but he did it! I read somewhere that someone had spotted elements of Bejart. Really??? are we talking about the same piece? Ivan’s Bolero has delicious humorous touches and is a joyful affair that leaves you uplifted and smiling, not in a transcendent mood, but in a light, playful one. It made me want to spring down the Hermitage steps dancing, if you get my drift!
Morphine.
Wow, that is a gripping work! It depends heavily on the principals’ skills of acting, and Ivan is absolutely outstanding in the young doctor’s role, while you see Irina Perren reaching new depths of expression. It proceeds to a dramatic crescendo. The end is so overwhelming that the audience was reduced to complete silence, motionless for a long time, before all started to breathe again and remembered to applaud.
Some liked this piece more, others liked another one. I’m unable to choose. They are so different that I like the three of them very much, both for their overall quality of choreography, staging and performance, but also because each one excels in different ways.
And of course you have Ivan’s dancing as a big bonus with all its great qualities: fluidity, gracefulness, lightness, partnering, and his perfect jumps. His group, however, was either very well chosen, or very well coached, because they were a great pleasure to watch, each one of them, expressive, skilful, synchronized.
It may have been a coincidence that Triple Bill fitted my taste to perfection. Time will tell which way Ivan will follow, but THIS show, omg, I loved it!!!
In short, Triple Bill did not seem the work of a novice at all and earned my deep respect for Ivan Vasiliev as a choreographer. I would gladly see it again (in fact, lucky me, I will, on 14th June in Mikhailovsky… 😉 🙂 )
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Hahaha!!! I notice I did not say a single negative word. Well, let’s try, for equilibrium’s sake…
While wearing the blindfolds, all keep their heads slightly bent. I don’t know if it is intentional. Are they looking at their gadgets or are they just trying to SEE the end point? It is ambiguous. Maybe they should keep their faces either straight forward, or heads really bent.
I did not like the young doctor’s frizzy, stiff curls. Of course, we all like Ivan’s natural curls, so it was maybe because of that. Anyway, it was the single costume element that stood out. His hair behaved strangely while he danced. I believe that it would not detract from the overall visual effect and maybe would be even more effective if they were just tidy at the beginning, and let loose to become wild and sweaty as the action goes on.
I feel I am being more royal than a king with these remarks, but these are the only flaws I could think of!
Magda Mundt
IVAN VASILIEV 