Trois Grandes Fugues.
A devilishly classical, arachnoid fugue by Lucinda Childs. A grand precise,male fugue by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. A highly nuanced Grosse Fugue by Maguy Marin, Lyon Opera Ballet. Adelaide Festival Theatre. Adelaide Festival. March 6-7 2020.
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
The inspiration behind Lyon Opera’s suite of
three very different works is Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, a highly controversial
score, composed at a time of profound deafness. Legendary women choreographers
Maguy Marin, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Lucinda Childs interpret the final
movement of Quartet No. 13 in B -flat major. The result is three very diverse
and beautifully conceived visions of Beethoven’s final composition prior to his
death. Lucinda Childs’ A devilishly classical, arachnoid fugue is
superbly classical in construct, danced with technical precision and graceful
movements by six male and six female dancers, dressed in sleek grey shades
against a projected image of luminous lace. With shimmering artistry and
architectural beauty, the dancers intertwine a fluidity and classical style
that conjures the mesmerizing lure of the arachnoid. The seduction lingers as
the curtain falls on Lucinda Child’s evocative and captivating work.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker astonishes with a
work of contemporary impact as the dancers of A grand, precise,male fugue entered
the stage in dark suits and commence a street ballet of floor rolls, outstretched
repetitions and stark rhythmic changes. There is vitality and surprise in a
bold and expressive interpretation of Beethoven’s composition. So very
different from Childs’ classical expression of the music, De Keersmaeker
delights in the raw energy and machismo of the male fugue. It reminds me at
times of Jerome Kern’s visceral choreography with similar exciting bravura. In
this fusion of ballet and contemporary dance the dancers appear to rejoice in
the liberating strains of Beethoven’s eccentric fugue.
Maguy Marin’s A highly nuanced Grosse
Fugue completes Lyon Opera Ballet’s delightful and exquisite programme of
short, light and imaginative dance interpretations of Beethoven’s final work.
Three Grand Fugues celebrates
genius and the imagination. That Lucinda Childs, renowned for her avant garde
work can create a work of conventional and yet inventive choreography of such
exquisite grace and precision while De Keersmaeker explores the physical form
and theatrical expressiveness of her dance and Marin exalts in the sheer flair
and freedom of dance is evidence of the creative inspiration of dance and
music. In Marin’s final piece of the evening four dancers dressed in red fire
the stage with colour and a certain obsession. Where Childs’ piece evokes the
spirit of air, De Keermaeker’s is more closely aligned with the earth and
Marin’s work conjures the spirit of fire. All three pieces heighten the variety
and essence of Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue during an evening of ballet that
delights the eye and pleases the ear. Trois Grandes Fugues like a
superbly selected degustation excites the eye, tantalizes the palate and feeds
the soul.
As Beethoven’s Final quartet surprise and
arouses the senses, so too does Lyon Opera Ballet’s Trois Grandes Fugues in an
evening of works that are at once soothing, exciting and uplifting. C’est
magnifique!
