This week, to Friday 24 March, The Royal Opera House are staging a great triple bill of modern dance, including The Human Seasons, After the Rain and Flight Pattern, all performed by The Royal Ballet.
I was at the opening night, last week, drawn by the commissioning of a world premiere from choreographer, Crystal Pite, whose work I’ve admired for a few years: this is the first piece commissioned by the ROH from a woman choreographer in eighteen years.
It was a tremendous evening of dance with Christopher Wheeldon’s After The Rain and the Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern being the standout – very contrasting – works.
After The Rain is a beautiful and intimate study of love and loss, danced with exquisite emotion and technique to the music of Arvo Part.
Flight Pattern is a huge undulating emotional expression of the grief and horror evident in the current refugee crisis, utilising thirty-six dancers, moving, often as one, against the soulful melancholy music of Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.
Do click on the YouTube video, below, to see a few minutes of rehearsal and hear Crystal Pite talking about the her feelings toward the humanitarian crisis facing the world and her representation of this through dance.
It was such a treat to see the technical brilliance of The Royal Ballet’s dancers in this outstanding modern dance triple bill – a must-see for any modern dance lover.
On at The Royal Opera House to Friday with some tickets still available – sadly, many ROH patrons do not favour modern dance but, hey, that’s more tickets at lower prices for anyone else who’s interested. And the ROH is fully wheelchair accessible.
I do hope I’ve encouraged you to rush along and, if you do: Enjoy.
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