Nederlands Dans Theater NTD2
Sadlers Wells’s Theatre
Wednesday 28/05/03
Mixed Programme

This week NTD2 is back in town. The company consisting of 14 young dancers aged
between 17 and 22 is the ‘junior’ wing of NTD and gives its members a chance to
mature as artists through a varied repertory and new creations by both well established
as well as up and coming choreographers. I had never seen NTD2 before and was very
impressed by the technically ability, expressiveness and the enthusiasm I observed on
Wednesday night.

According to the programme notes it took 4418,75 hours to make the production of
‘27”52’’ the only Kylian piece of the evening. Considering this tremendous effort
I felt disappointed with the result. The cast of 6 whirls through a serious of duets
and group dances linked by their preoccupation with the loose strips of floor covering.
After a while I became distracted by the constant pulling, lifting, wrapping into and peaking underneath. There were a few interesting points but overall the work left
me feeling all at sea and puzzled. Not best way to end an otherwise very enjoyable
evening.

The opening piece ‘Dream Play’ by Johan Unger who will be appointed artistic director
of the Cullenberg Ballet in Stockholm was more inspiring to me. A chance encounter
with a woman in the street leads a man to drift into a powerful erotic daydream.
Set to a part of Igor Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ the choreography reflects
the savage undertones of the score very well and I was a surprised when we suddenly
found ourselves back on the street and in reality at the end.

I enjoyed the middle section of the programme consisting of 2 works by the choreographer due Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon the most. ‘Shutters Shut’ is set to
a reading of Gertrude Stein’s poem ‘If I told him: A complete portrait of Picasso’.
A speedy serious of staccato movements, skilfully executed by Parvaneh Scharafali
and Fernando Hernando Magadan reflects in part the text and in part the rhythm of
the reading. The stunning speed left you feeling quite exhausted from just watching
for 4 minutes.
Their second offering ‘Subject to Change’ created to Franz Schubert’s ‘Death and
the Maiden’ shows Marthe Krummenacher and Medhi Walerski as the lead couple
mostly dancing on a red carpet that had been ceremonially unrolled by the supporting
corps of 4 men who also often manipulate the prop at its corners. Although the girl struggling with fate is clearly at the centre of the work Lightfoot and Leon have managed to show off the male dancers without having them overshadow Krummenacher’s haunting performance. For me this was the highpoint of the evening.

Overall it was a very enjoyable evening of dance interpreted by fabulous dancers.
The audience was clearly taken by the company’s buzzing energy. All I can say is:
“Please visit us again soon.”

A poor second
Jiri Kylian’s 27’52” is ersatz William Forsythe meets Kenny Everett, but NDT2’s young stars do it in the best possible taste, says Clifford Bishop for The Sunday Times.


In the programme notes to 27’52”, Jiri Kylian’s most recent contribution to the repertoire of Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (Sadler’s Wells), there is a meticulous accounting of the sweat and toil that went into its creation. Add up the “900.0 hours of choreographer’s work” (and note the ecstatic pedantry of that decimal point), the “1,687.0 hours of rehearsal with individual dancers”, the “182.5 hours” Kylian spent with his assistant in the studio, and all the other stopwatched chores, from musical research to making the poster, and, we are exhaustedly told, it took 4,418.75 hours to make this production. So it must be good, then.

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Out Of Breath, Swan Theatre, High Wycombe
By John Percival for The Independent

In the case of Nederlands Dans Theater 2, I have already indicated that I find much of the company's present repertoire disappointing, but the prospect of an unfamiliar work by Johan Inger drew me to see them again in High Wycombe, and happily it made the journey worthwhile. Inger, a Swede who next month becomes the director of the Cullberg Ballet, has a gift for creating unusual dances that establish a strong, unexpected atmosphere of their own.

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Review from Scotland on Sunday.

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<small>[ 15 June 2003, 12:43 AM: Message edited by: Joanne ]</small>

Young troupe to strut its stuff on city stage
Short preview by LIAM RUDDEN for The Scotsman

"THE dancers are young and sexy, the repertoire is new and the dancing always superlative," cried one critic when NDT2 (Nederlands Dans Theater) last toured the UK. And tonight you can discover what the excitement was about when the troupe of dancers returns to the city for a two-night stop at the Festival Theatre.

Founded in 1978 and made up of only the youngest dancers (aged in their late teens to early 20s) of Nederlands Dans Theater, this is the sixth time the junior company has embarked upon such a tour.

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At last! A UK newspaper critic who enjoys the output of the NDT choreographers.

NDT2, Edinburgh Festival Theatre
By Mary Brennan for the Herald

Put a wall in their way, pull the very floor from under their feet - lordy, you can even pit them against Gertrude Stein reading her own poetry, and the young bloods of Nederlands Dans Theater II will take all challenges in their stride. It's a stride that can be angsty-awkward and full of finely-gauged uncertainties - Johan Inger makes compelling use of this in Out of Breath, an edgy look at barriers that keep people from reaching their goals. On-stage there's a sizeable scoop of moveable wall that epitomises hurdles in communication, aspiration, relationships.

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