Scottish Ballet showcases its innovation with latest work

The latest show, a double bill named after acclaimed choreographer and hip-hop dance artist Dickson Mbi’s piece Twice-Born (image below), is an excellent example of the innovative new choreography that is staged by our national dance company.

Mbi’s work (which, quite correctly, appears second on the programme) is an extraordinarily ambitious piece. Danced in front of a huge rock design that takes on the appearance of a towering mountain, it is a boldly elemental and primal piece.

Inspired, it seems, by a variety of ancient pagan traditions, it is, as its title suggests, a choreography in two acts: pre and post-cataclysm. At the outset, we witness a human, seemingly matriarchal, society that venerates nature and senses that it is on the verge of a catastrophe.

The movement is dynamic and ritualistic, sometimes almost hypnotically so. The original music (by Mbi himself), which combines symphonic drama with plaintive human voices, contributes massively to a work that, in its first half, achieves the difficult task of making a scene of ancient, pagan religion into something credible and compelling.

By the time the cataclysm is represented, one can’t help but feel that the piece is commenting powerfully upon the Anthropocene and the unfolding global disasters caused by human-made climate change. Indeed, one suspects, we are, in the coming years and decades, going to see more artworks that look back to the origins and early rituals of humanity.

After all, say what you like about pagan religions, it is, surely, better to worship nature than to destroy it. Without question, the opening section of Mbi’s work concentrates the mind and commands the emotions.

However, sadly, the second half makes a dreadful error that needlessly undermines the hard-won credibility and integrity of the piece. We see a sinister society emerge in the wake of the cataclysm, one of the rituals of which is to parade around carrying the rocks that fell from the sky during the catastrophe.

When the objects are raining down on benighted humans, we the audience are willing to imagine that they are constituted of heavy stone (rather than polystyrene foam). However, when, with unintended comedy, characters lift them up as if they were light as feathers, the illusion is broken and the gravitas of Mbi’s work is punctured.

All of which is a great pity as the choreographer has a great company of dancers – most impressively the matriarchs Rishan Benjamin and Marge Hendrick – at his disposal.

In stark contrast with Mbi’s piece, Cayetano Soto’s opener, titled Schachmatt, is a light-hearted work of candyfloss dance. Dancers wearing riding helmets perform an often comic, technically accomplished choreography.

The score of nostalgic popular tunes combines with a sexual humour that slides towards the work of the late Benny Hill.

Touring to Aberdeen (October 6) and Edinburgh (October 20 & 21): ONE of the great strengths of Scottish Ballet is that, in addition to taking a vibrant and exciting approach to the classical canon, it also provides a stream of invigorating and interesting new works. The latest show, a double bill named after acclaimed choreographer and hip-hop dance artist Dickson Mbi’s piece Twice-Born, is an excellent example of the innovative new choreography that is staged by our national dance company.

Mbi’s work (which, quite correctly, appears second on the programme) is an extraordinarily ambitious piece. Danced in front of a huge rock design that takes on the appearance of a towering mountain, it is a boldly elemental and primal piece.

Inspired, it seems, by a variety of ancient pagan traditions, it is, as its title suggests, a choreography in two acts: pre and post-cataclysm. At the outset, we witness a human, seemingly matriarchal, society that venerates nature and senses that it is on the verge of a catastrophe.

The movement is dynamic and ritualistic, sometimes almost hypnotically so. The original music (by Mbi himself), which combines symphonic drama with plaintive human voices, contributes massively to a work that, in its first half, achieves the difficult task of making a scene of ancient, pagan religion into something credible and compelling.

By the time the cataclysm is represented, one can’t help but feel that the piece is commenting powerfully upon the Anthropocene and the unfolding global disasters caused by human-made climate change. Indeed, one suspects, we are, in the coming years and decades, going to see more artworks that look back to the origins and early rituals of humanity.

After all, say what you like about pagan religions, it is, surely, better to worship nature than to destroy it. Without question, the opening section of Mbi’s work concentrates the mind and commands the emotions.

However, sadly, the second half makes a dreadful error that needlessly undermines the hard-won credibility and integrity of the piece. We see a sinister society emerge in the wake of the cataclysm, one of the rituals of which is to parade around carrying the rocks that fell from the sky during the catastrophe.

When the objects are raining down on benighted humans, we the audience are willing to imagine that they are constituted of heavy stone (rather than polystyrene foam). However, when, with unintended comedy, characters lift them up as if they were light as feathers, the illusion is broken and the gravitas of Mbi’s work is punctured.

All of which is a great pity as the choreographer has a great company of dancers – most impressively the matriarchs Rishan Benjamin and Marge Hendrick – at his disposal.

READ MORE: Republic stage anti-monarchy protest inside Buckingham Palace

In stark contrast with Mbi’s piece, Cayetano Soto’s opener, titled Schachmatt, is a light-hearted work of candyfloss dance. Dancers wearing riding helmets perform an often comic, technically accomplished choreography.

The score of nostalgic popular tunes combines with a sexual humour that slides towards the work of the late Benny Hill.

Touring to Aberdeen (October 6) and Edinburgh (October 20 & 21) with tickets available HERE.