Richard Alston, one of Britain’s foremost contemporary choreographers, set up his dance company at The Place in London in 1994. Always popular with audiences, their current tour comprises a mixture of both classical and modern music and dance. There are four pieces in the programme, three of which have premiered this year.
There is no unifying theme in the programme and the evening kicks off with Fingerprint. Choreographed by Richard Alston it is set to a selection of early J.S. Bach music for piano – Capriccio in B flat Major and Toccata in D Major - beautifully played on stage by Jason Ridgeway. The mood in this piece adroitly shifts from melancholy to joyful exuberance and in the Toccata Jonathan Goddard’s adept individualistic dancing was particularly brought to the fore.
Nigredo, again with live piano, is music composed by Simon Holt who asked Richard Alston to choreograph the piece. With aesthetically pleasing, elegant choreography, involving “intimate, intricate duets”, the theme of Nigredo revolves around the redemption of the soul from the depths of despair to one of inner strength.
Brink is choreographed by Martin Lawrance, a member of the Richard Alston Dance Company. His first commissioned piece for RADC, Brink is set to delightful, quirky Eurasian Tango music for accordion by the Japanese composer Ayuo, and Lawrance has blended bodily movements very effectively with the idiosyncratic music. The programme concludes on a vibrant note with Gypsy Mixture.
RADC is one of Britain’s top contemporary dance troupes. The quality of dancing is exceptionally good when they dance in pairs, however, when the company works as an ensemble they lack a united precision.
Richard Alston Dance Company performed at the Festival Theatre on 13th November
Tour Dates
19-20 November, 2007: Cambridge Arts Theatre
Fingerprint, Brink, Nigredo, Gypsy Mixture
27 November, 2007: Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe
Fingerprint, Brink, Nigredo, Gypsy Mixture
6 & 7 December, 2007: Patrick Centre, Birmingham
Nigredo, Brink, The Devil in The Detail (extracts), Gypsy Mixture (extracts)