Diversions bringing acclaimed show to Mold

Sep 26 2008 By Derek Walker

Diversions

Take two innovative choreographers, Wales’ ground-breaking dance company, and an evening of hot entertainment is guaranteed.

For the second half of Diversions’ 25th anniversary year a new season has been put together by Artistic Director Ann Sholem, with a new dance created for the company and work from one of the hippest choreographers in the business.

Ask the packed audience at the Dance House, Wales Millennium Centre, and there is no doubt those expectations weren’t disappointed. This is an evening of cool, controlled and classy international dance combined with some truly cutting-edge innovation.

First on the menu was the new work from Belgian Stijn Celis, FORM, which had been created with the 10 Diversions dancers and technical team at the Dance House over the last few weeks.

The rawness could be felt through the work and this seems very much a piece in development and it will be fascinating to see how this evolves when the choreographed is performed in Bangor and Mold when the company tours North Wales this week.

FORM is a stark contrast with Celis previous work with the company, Practice Paradise, which was based on the classical ballet Les Sylphides. Here we have a work that is more abstract but that does not mean it is now totally accessible.

Being broken into five distinct pieces that flow into one another, each with contrasting music, the dance sweeps along quickly and passionately, never losing the audience attention for a split second.

That music opened with some funky James Brown singing giving the dancers a chance to show they can cut a dash on any dance floor, disco to contemporary, while the programme notes explained that the rest of the evening included Steve Reich. There were also some exhalations, some grunts, gasps and groans which I think were the tribal sounds the rather useful programme notes described!

Costumes always play a big part in a Diversions work. Here the dancers wore costumes that combined baroque elegance and modern touches, such as multi coloured strips and wild leggings.

Later in the piece the dancers pass an electronic display panel to each other and then place it front of the stage for the audience to watch. Again those useful programme notes explain the words passing along the panel are- quotes from “Will I find happiness?" such as “Am I Being Exploited?” “Is a Witch Riding Me?” . I assume it all relates to the thoughts of the choreographer and the message – if there is one –conveyed in the fast paced dance that passes at breathtaking speed.

The second dance was from hip New Yorker Stephen Petronio, Strange Attractors: Prelude and Part II. Chic and minimalist costumes, fabulous vocals from David Bowie and the crispest of choreography marked out Petronio’s Prelude. This is a polished diamond of a work with bodies that run against each other as dancers nuzzle, caress, and intertwine in a sensual, contorting line.

In Part II they break apart and a series of duets break through the space as the punch choreography sets dancer against dancer as sparring partners in a stylised, highly charged display of pugilism.

Grab a ticket for a ring side seat during the tour which takes in Theatr Gwynedd, Bangor (September 25, 26), Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold (September 29, 30) and Theatr Hafren, Newtown (October 23, 24).

To see a video interview with choreographer Stijn Celis, please click here.