Les Ballets C de la B
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Jérôme Bel
Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler’s Wells
Within the past two weeks Sadler’s Wells played host to two memorable modern dance performances: Pitié! and A Spectator. They could not have been more different, and yet they both showed how, in an arts world plagued by unimpressive imitations and continuous regurgitations of old ideas, there are still those who can break stale moulds and make an impact. Neither Alain Platel and his Les Ballets C de la B, nor Jérôme Bel are everyone’s favourites. Their controversial works have often irritated dance-goers. Still, their provocations are synonymous with artistic vibrancy, creativity and, above all, intelligence, as the two performances in question demonstrated.
Pitié! is the outcome of a new collaboration between Platel and the composer Fabrizio Cassol. Daringly based on Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion, it proposes an exploration of deeply emotional issues that range from sacrifice to maternal love, through a choreographic and musical reading of the celebrated — and somewhat untouchable — work. Purists might frown and shiver at the idea of Bach’s music being reworked, and some might feel uneasy at the idea of a religious theme being turned into a frenzied choreographic act, in which images inspired by baroque art mix freely with harsher visual ideas, encompassing exposed buttocks and quick, but not so subtle references to scatological acts. Pitié! is not about desecration and is not blasphemous, though. It is a well thought out, almost philosophically conceived performance in which live music, unique singing, dramatic and, at the same time, humorous acting and, above all, first-class dancing engage the viewers in a powerful, though never tiring, game of cogently stimulating provocation.
What I found particularly outstanding was the perfect balance between Cassol’s music, played by Aka Moon, and Platel’s devised action. Neither one overwhelmed the other, despite each being overpowering in the their own right. The three operatic singers, soprano Claron McFadden, mezzo Monica Brett-Crowther and the out of this world countertenor Serge Kakudji, together with singer and flautist Magic Malik, bestowed an extra, almost supernatural layer upon the two-hour performance, interacting seamlessly and almost magically with the superb dancers. There is no doubt that Pitié! will remain a landmark in the company’s history, if not in dance history.
In stark contrast with the modern reading of baroque proposed by Pitié!, Jérôme Bel’s A Spectator turned out to be a monologue performed in the stark surroundings of the empty Lilian Baylis Studio stage. Bel’s work is not new to Sadler’s Wells regulars. Nor is, to an audience familiar with the tenets of postmodern dance, the idea of a verbal soliloquy instead of a choreographed movement solo. But Bel’s spoken piece is miles away from the cerebral speculations favoured by those dance-makers who made a trade of speaking to the public.
His speech, humorous and moving at times, is an overt invitation to the viewers to think about their role and how a ‘good’ spectator ought to behave. The performer, therefore, becomes the viewer, telling us stories of him being one of us — not the actor. The vivid rendition of some of his most memorable biographical moments as a theatre-goer exploits in full his irresistible performing charisma; he brings to life with a few words and, occasionally, a few gestures — ‘parodies’ as he calls them — the likes of Trisha Brown, Pina Bausch, and some less famous and even talented dance and performance makers. The over-one-hour-long experience, disconcerting at first for those who are not used to this kind of verbal dance, soon becomes mesmerising. Like a skilful conjurer, Bel evokes performances almost in their entirety, while making his own spectators wonder what it is like to be sitting in the dark and watching.
His ideas are provocative, too, and I often found myself on the brink of answering back — as I felt, like many others, that my allegedly sacrosanct spectator’s rights were being infringed, challenged and questioned. But the provocation was too intruiging to be disrupted, and like everybody else I felt I wanted to know more and more…and more. Bel is indeed right. Far too much has been said and written about performers and far too little about spectators. And even less has been said, or done, as in this case, on the spectator as artist. And for that, Bel fully deserved the roaring ovation offered by his enthralled viewers.
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