Dance 2 Go: Not much to go to

Nov 9, 2013

The latest version of Dance 2 Go is yet another instance of the Royal Danish Ballet’s somewhat predictable charm offensive. The idea behind it is laudable: all the tickets are sold for 200 kroner and audiences get to see a triple bill of diverse ballet works. But after the Royal Danish Orchestra’s live music was dropped to be greatly missed in the last issue of Dance 2 Go, this one in addition seems a little too sensational and kitschy.

In the programme’s first piece, Symphony in Three Movements, the corps de ballet disappoints, which is unusual for the Royal Danish Ballet’s fantastic dancers. Their movements are too supple for George Balanchine’s angular choreography and they make the piece look like one big muddle when a large number of dancers is on stage – which is most of the time in Symphony in Three Movements.

Grand Pas Classique from 1949, the evening’s second piece, appears laughable despite the dancers’ impressive performance. Daniel Auber’s grandiose music from the speakers preposterously mismatches the pompous costumes and Victor Gsovsky’s intricate choreography. More importantly, it doesn’t do justice to the great accomplishment of principal dancers J’aime Crandall and Alban Lendorf. They partner each other somewhat restrainedly and dance even more dazzlingly when on their own.

The evening’s finale is Minus 7, a contemporary choreography by Israelis Ohad Naharin whose work the programme spends some time announcing as “politically controversial”. Minus 7 begins secretly during the break when a male dancer on stage entertains the scattered audience. What follows is a potpourri of scenes that are visually strong, but seem otherwise pretty empty. In one such scene, the entire cast of 19 dancers are clad in black suits and seated in a vast circle of chairs. The dancers repetitively get up, sit down and chant to loud music. The piece finishes with one of those often awkward ‘breakdowns of the wall between the performers and the audience’ in which individual spectators are invited on stage. Not least due to the charm of dancers like Gregory Dean, this scene works surprisingly well. But although Minus 7 might radiate with infectious energy, what is ‘provocative’ or ‘challenging’ about the piece remains in the deep dark of its prettily-lit stage.