Former artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater for 25 years, Jiri Kylian remains an in-house choreographer and the programme began with his 1997 work Wings of Wax, inspired by the legend of Icarus who flew too near the sun.
Above centre stage, a tree with bare branches and roots hangs upside down. A large spotlight rotates slowly around the tree, shining sunlight in a measured pace around the stage. With an ensemble of eight dancers dressed in tight black lycra mesh, couples perform graceful pas de deux sequences, creating a fluid, flowing wave of movement.
The accompanying music (Heinrich von Biber, John Cage, Philip Glass and Bach) presents an eloquent haunting soundtrack, subtly changing in tempo: a group of dancers fly around in wide circles, arms flailing; four girls simulate running at speed while moving on the spot in slow motion, a a man physically runs faster and faster around the tree. Towards the end as the light fades, Bach's Adagio in G minor provides a sombre and reflective mood.
In 1987 Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon joined NDT1 as young dancers and so successful was their partnership on (and off) stage, they began to collaborate as choreographers. Their trademark style combines large scale sets, music, text, film and exquisite use of light. Drawn Onward is just 17 minutes in duration but this dark, intense piece packs a punch.
The setting is a black box with two huge side curtains slowly rising from the floor. Centre stage a giant door periodically opens and bangs shut. Two girls dressed evocatively in short flimsy blouses and flesh coloured pants wander in and out of the shadows, as three (bare chested) men observe and venture closer for a series of brief encounters. This enigmatic, emotionally charged piece about past regret and unknown future, is brilliantly complemented by John Adams' composition " Christian Zeal and Activity" which incorporates a fragment of a 1971 evangelical sermon, repeated on a loop. Like a sultry, sexy film noir it both delights and unnerves the senses.
Tar and Feathers by Jiri Kylian (2006) presents a more challenging, improvised, cross cultural extravaganza. A grand piano stands on high stilts reminiscent of one of Salvador Dali's giant elephant-giraffe. Tomoko Mukaiyama performs her own piano composition, superimposed on the recording of a Haubrich piano concerto and extracts from "What is the Word?" by Samuel Beckett, written on his death bed. Three men and three women seem lost within this surreal landscape, featuring a rock of ice and a backdrop of grey threatening sky with distant white horizon. With the cacophony of jarring music, poetry, sound effects of growling dogs and pastiche ballet turns, it all seems to evolve into a bizarre, light hearted entertainment rather than a fulfilling and engaging dance performance.
In a nutshell, this triple bill of works at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre celebrates the extraordinary balletic technique, visually and aurally exciting staging and choreographic invention which makes NDT1 such a world class contemporary dance company. More than anything perhaps, it is the unique concept of retaining resident choreographers which defines the consistent artistic style and intellectual dramatic tone.
Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 11-12 April, 7.30pm. The Alhambra, Bradford, 15-16 April,
The Lowry, Salford, 18-19 April, Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 22-23 April.