REVIEW: La Veronal- Pasionaria at Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Marcos Morau’s dance company, La Veronal, returns to Sadler’s Wells for the first time since 2015. He describes Pasionaria as being 'a place everyone talks about and a place of progress. Life has become an artificial landscape and inhabitants have lost any kind of passion’. 

A multi-disciplinary piece, Pasionaria could be described as a sci-fi performance. Designed by Max Glaenzel, the dimly lit set looks like it could be in a school, or a station, somewhere that is a purgatory point in life that everyone is trying to hurriedly move on from. There is a row of white cushioned benches on the lowest level, with a telephone and a door locked by a code. A large white staircase takes up the majority of the stage, with high sides that mostly shield the identity of the people walking down. There is a window top left to the outside, lit up with stars and the moon, that expands and shrinks throughout the piece as if this building is moving around space.

REVIEW: English National Ballet ‘The Forsythe Evening’ at Sadler’s Wells Theatre

William Forsythe’s choreography is a work of art. He has taken the traditional ideals of what ballet is and proven its versatility by modernising the music and themes. You would not guess that the American choreographer is 72 years old, his enthusiasm and charisma are infused into his dances and the English National Ballet dancers are responsive to every note. 

Act One, ‘Blake Works I’ is made up of 7 dances performed to James Blake’s songs from the album ‘The Colour in Anything'. By using mainstream music, Forsythe has gifted the dancers the opportunity to express themselves in free movements, albeit in keeping with the technicalities and discipline of classical ballet. You can sense the delight in their performances, as they give it some attitude and sass. I have never experienced a sense of humour this much in a dance performance, and it has shifted my views on what modern dance can be when combined with traditional movement. Wearing only slate coloured bodysuits and leotards (designed by Forsythe and Dorothee Merg), with no set, the setup is simple with all of the focus on the performers.