BalletBoyz: The TALENT, Young Men at Sadler's Wells
The deeply affecting relationships between young men in WWI are the focus of a new work presented by the fabulous BalletBoyz, Sadler’s Wells.
BalletBoyz: The TALENT, Young Men at Sadler's Wells
One of Britain’s most exciting ballet troupes, the all-male BalletBoyz: The TALENT, play their own part in this year’s centenary of World War I with Young Men , a new full-length work premiering at Sadler’s Wells in January.
Choreographed by rising star Iván Pérez, the work also features a newly commissioned by the cult singer-songwriter heard before with the BalletBoyz, Keaton Heston. It delves into the relationships of love, friendship, loss and survival that develop between the young men plunged into the senseless brutality of war.
A joint commission by Sadler’s Wells and the WW1 Centenary Art Commission, Young Men has been in the making since 2012, and an enticing excerpt was shown at London’s Roundhouse in July.
Perez is a choreographer who imbues his steps with violence, both physical and emotional, with speed and the wheeling of limbs just under control. The militaristic patterns of this piece and its inevitable masculinity have drawn from him a more grounded power, thudding into the stage to the thunder of Heston’s score.
Set pieces from the preview included a circle of booted, soldier-like dancers launching themselves one by one at a central figure, leaving us wondering whether in an act of aggression or a desperate plea for friendship.
In another scene an almost naked Andrea Carrucciu was brought in by a booted guard of dancers, his limbs twisting painfully; but the guards begin to mimic him, until they have become the stooping followers of an upright leader.
Filmed sequences play both as background and as an integral part of the choreography. One scene hones in on the aggressive despair of one man, danced by Matthew Rees. It’s not the first time they’ve made use of his grimly expressive face and hardened brows - he’s the face of Keaton Heston’s music video to Healah’s Dancing.
The BalletBoyz are no strangers to Heston's music; but the novelty here is that the composer has created this heavy, thumping, atmospheric score specifically for this piece. It will be performed live.
This is not the first ballet created in 2014 as part of the WWI commemorations. The much acclaimed programme from English National Ballet, Lest We Forget, presented three specially commissioned pieces from front-line choreographers inspired by various aspects of that conflict.
However, there is always a special buzz to whatever the Balletboyz do, so this programme, opening Sadler’s Wells Winter season, should constitute an exciting finale to a year of sombre meditation on the war that so irreversibly changed the lives of millions of young men.
Choreographed by rising star Iván Pérez, the work also features a newly commissioned by the cult singer-songwriter heard before with the BalletBoyz, Keaton Heston. It delves into the relationships of love, friendship, loss and survival that develop between the young men plunged into the senseless brutality of war.
A joint commission by Sadler’s Wells and the WW1 Centenary Art Commission, Young Men has been in the making since 2012, and an enticing excerpt was shown at London’s Roundhouse in July.
Perez is a choreographer who imbues his steps with violence, both physical and emotional, with speed and the wheeling of limbs just under control. The militaristic patterns of this piece and its inevitable masculinity have drawn from him a more grounded power, thudding into the stage to the thunder of Heston’s score.
Set pieces from the preview included a circle of booted, soldier-like dancers launching themselves one by one at a central figure, leaving us wondering whether in an act of aggression or a desperate plea for friendship.
In another scene an almost naked Andrea Carrucciu was brought in by a booted guard of dancers, his limbs twisting painfully; but the guards begin to mimic him, until they have become the stooping followers of an upright leader.
Filmed sequences play both as background and as an integral part of the choreography. One scene hones in on the aggressive despair of one man, danced by Matthew Rees. It’s not the first time they’ve made use of his grimly expressive face and hardened brows - he’s the face of Keaton Heston’s music video to Healah’s Dancing.
The BalletBoyz are no strangers to Heston's music; but the novelty here is that the composer has created this heavy, thumping, atmospheric score specifically for this piece. It will be performed live.
This is not the first ballet created in 2014 as part of the WWI commemorations. The much acclaimed programme from English National Ballet, Lest We Forget, presented three specially commissioned pieces from front-line choreographers inspired by various aspects of that conflict.
However, there is always a special buzz to whatever the Balletboyz do, so this programme, opening Sadler’s Wells Winter season, should constitute an exciting finale to a year of sombre meditation on the war that so irreversibly changed the lives of millions of young men.
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