One-act Ballets

The Crossing Over Niagara

Marianela Boan is an internationally renowned choreographer, recognised as one of the most important artists of contemporary Cuban dance and a leader in the Hispanic American dance vanguard. When Artistic Director of Havana based dance company DanzAbierta, she evolved her own dance methodology bringing together voice, emotion, posture, gesture, image and language. El Cruce Sobre el Niagara (The Crossing Over Niagara) was created in 1987 and was inspired by the diversity and openness of the arts in Cuba.

There Is Nothing Around

Spanish choreographer Goyo Montero presents Alrededor No Hay Nada (There is Nothing Around), a starkly dramatic work originally made for Ballet Nacional de Cuba and premiered at the International Ballet Festival in Havana. Working in close collaboration with vocalists Vinicius de Moraes and Joaquin Sabina, he draws inspiration from the poetry and cadence of their voices.

Faun

Flemish-Moroccan Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is one of the most sought after contemporary choreographers in the world. He is renowned for creating imaginative productions which shine a new light on the cultures and movement genres he explores. Faun was originally commissioned by Sadler’s Wells for the centenary of the founding of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Cherkaoui’s Faun is his interpretation of LApres-midi d’un faune. With the addition of Nitin Sawhney’s music to the instantly recognisable score by Debussy, Faun sheds its cultural baggage and becomes in itself dual or multiple, primeval and modern, suddenly uprooted from history and geography.

Two

Originally created in 1998 for Dana Fouras, Two was later performed by the legendary Sylvie Guillem as part of the PUSH programme. The dancer begins Two trapped inside a tiny box of light. Repeating the same phrases with increasing intensity, the dancer compels us with the mesmerising allure of his arms, shoulders and head.
When the beat in Andy Cowton’s sound score kicks in, the dancer spins with increased excitement, finally erupting like a whirling dervish, hands and feet moving in a blur of light and movement. Michael Hull’s extraordinary lighting turns the dancer’s hands and feet into licks of fire, while Maliphant’s choreography engulfs her in its whirligig. The dancer’s body seems to evaporate into the vortex.