Christopher Bruce’s moving ballet is danced to Chilean folk songs, including several by Violetta Para and the poet/song-writer Victor Jara, who was assassinated by the junta that overthrew Allende’s government in 1973. Dedicated to the Chilean people, the work shows the tension and sorrow of a country in turmoil. Contrasting light and darkness, it embraces celebration and evokes the courage needed to confront political adversity and the threat of death. This performance was recorded in studio.
Lonely Town, Lonely Street
A passionate and energetic picture of lonely people in a large city, Robert North’s jazz ballet takes ist title from the popular music by Bill Withers to which it is set. Andrew Storer’s designs, with fire escapes and overspilling dustbins, suggest a seedy district of an American town. Rambert Dance Company gives an electrifying performance in this studio recording.
Svadebka (Les Noces)
In his composition Les Noces (Svadebka), Stravinsky pictures the ceremony of a traditional Russian country wedding. The music, with its fast pace and intricate rhythmic structures, presents the composer’s greatest choreographic challenge and Jiri Kylián finds the theme an intriguing one: “Marriage is very strange, but also beautiful. In Russia, especially, it used to be rather mysterious as well, above all for the bride.” This performance was recorded in studio.
Stamping Ground
An invitation to attend a large gathering of Aboriginal dancers in Australia fuelled Jiri Kylián’s abiding interest in their traditions. Film of his experience there, together with footage of the work it inspired him to undertake with the Nederlands Dans Theater, form an introduction to a studio recording of the stunning ballet that resulted: Stamping Ground. This stunningly innovative and athletic piece of choreography is danced to music by Carlos Chavez.
This performance is also available with a documentary introduction, Road To The Stamping Ground.
Symphony of Psalms
Jiri Kylián’s ballet, set to Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, captures the archaic power of the music. The restrained gestures of a group of dancers contrast with the forceful and passionate movements of individuals and pairs who are set apart from them. The setting, designed by William Katz, enhances the suggestion of a ritual dance. This performance was recorded in studio.
La cathédrale engloutie
Jiri Kylián’s ballet is set to a composition by Claude Debussy which was inspired by a fifteenth-century Breton legend. This tells how a cathedral was built on a seashore as a symbol to the Almighty that he would reign over the people. But they led godless lives and, as a result, the cathedral disappeared below the waves. This performance was recorded in studio.
Torso
Czech choreographer Jiri Kylián was moved to create Torso by the plight of the Russian dancers, Valery and Galina Panov, who found asylum in Israel. His own experience of being cut off from his homeland, after the Dubcek regime was crushed, has been a lasting influence on his work. This ballet, set to music by Toru Takemitsu, and dedicated to all in exile, expresses a profound feeling of dislocation. Sabine Kupferberg and Leigh Warren feature in this studio recording.
Symphony in D Workshop
A documentary introduction to Symphony in D shows Jirí Kylián rehearsing the work with students from The Royal Ballet School in London and includes an interview in which the Czech choreographer talks about his exile from his homeland and his career in dance.
Sinfonietta
This studio recording featuring the Nederlands Dans Theater captures a scintillating performance of Kylián’s ballet inspired by the music of his Czech compatriot, Janácek. It is danced against a backdrop of the Bohemian countryside, created by Walter Nobbe, and expresses his emotional attachment to his homeland. He chose the piece because it stands as an ode to freedom, beauty and the joy of living, and the result is a ballet full of energetic exuberance, combined with some moving lyric passages.
Pilobolus on Broadway
The Pilobolus dance theatre company founded by Moses Pendleton and Jonathan Wolken is renowned for its originality and irreverence. This studio recording shows off the zany Pilobolus style and includes three pieces choreographed by the company themselves: The Empty Suitor, which is danced to a selection of jazz numbers; Walklyndon, with its atmospheric sound effects; and Day Two, set to music specially composed, arranged and produced by Gordon Johnson.