Choreographers: Xie Xin and Maxine Doyle
Bold, brash and beautifully innovative, for more than 20 years the BalletBoyz have been storming the dance world with breath-taking creative energy. With Deluxe we are presented with a stunning contrast that in one half leaves us in a state of dreamlike calm while the other offers a pace so frenetic that the audience is breathless.
Pandemic lockdown hit Deluxe after just seven shows back in 2020, just as BalletBoyz were setting off on a tour to mark their 20th anniversary. Thankfully the production quickly appeared on the Sadlers Wells digital Facebook Premieres platform and was part of BBC’sCulture in Quarantinefestival, giving an intimate filmed experience of the new works.
Now relaunched on stage with a mostly new team of dancers the two parts have been switched from their original order, creating an aura of mindfulness to begin followed by what can only be described as a frenzied exploration of toxic masculinity. It’s a thrilling showcase not just for the versatile performers but also for the two female choreographers, neither of whom had previously worked with an all-male troupe, and for the composers and musicians behind the accompanying soundtrack.
It’s becoming a cliché to invoke the spirit of Covid in all post-pandemic productions, but it’s hard not to sense the emotions of the last two years in the contrasting peaceful energies of Ripple and the frustrated angst of Bradley 4:18 which seem to sum up global hope and despair, even though they predate shutdown.
The first UK commission for Shanghai-based choreographer Xie Xin, Ripple is a wonderfully fluid piece demanding understanding and response from its eight dancers. While drawing from the richness of Chinese contemporary dance it touches on other aspects of the culture, with repeating patterns that are as smooth as flowing satin one moment then as relentless as a stormy sea the next.
It’s a piece of enormous subtlety and interconnectivity, tapping into nature and the wells of deep peace, a study of what is happening at the heart of ripples caused by a stone being thrown into water. It isn’t, perhaps, how we would normally expect male dancers to move, so there is a contained energy that is electrifying and pulsating, accompanied by Jiang Shaofeng’s score that occasionally resembles the enthralling experimental sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The second half couldn’t be more different, drawing inspiration from Kae Tempest’s lyrics to Pictures on a Screen, with six dancers representing different facets of a successful young man wondering, “Is he awake or asleep? He can’t tell, he can’t dream, he can’t feel, he can’t scream…”
Bradley 4:18 explores every aspect of the question, “Is this really what it means to be alive?” as he is haunted by questions, experiences, dreams, nightmares, insecurities and anxieties at 4.18 in the morning. Each performer in Maxine Doyle’s potent choreography shows a side of the character in a solo spot before all come together in a way that is provocative, ferocious, frightening, volatile and disturbingly sexy. It’s a magnificent example of edgy ensemble work.
The music here is by Cassie Kinoshi, a thrilling jazz score played by SEED Ensemble that blends nostalgic film noir with the dangerously contemporary, matched by the nervy, neurotic moves of the athletic dancers. The mood is enhanced still further by the atmospheric lighting by Andrew Ellis, giving the choreography further depth, shadows, and timelessness.
Both pieces are prefaced by a short film giving insight into the creative process as we see the choreographers at work in rehearsals, hear their thoughts and meet the dancers Dan Baines, Paris Fitzpatrick, Seirian Griffiths, Ben Knapper, Luigi Nardone, Alecsander Nilsson, Dom Rocca, Kai Tomioka. They provide an effective curtain-raiser to each work.
Veering between the sedate and the aggressive the works in Deluxe are deeply personal and yet tackle the divergent emotions of everyman. And both prove once again that Michael Nunn and William Trevitt’s BalletBoyz are still a veritable force to be reckoned with, an enterprising company always willing to discover new things and never scared to blur or cross boundaries.
Runs until 27 March 2022 and touring
The Reviews Hub Score
Delicious, defiant, dexterous - Deluxe
Just wasted a lot of hard earned cash on Balletboyz Deluxe at Storyhouse Chester. What a load of rubbish!! Eight so called Royal Ballet male dancers performing total arty farty junk. The first half accompanied by an incoherent Japanese/ Chinese score was boring beyond belief. The second half, which I hoped to be an improvement, actually made the first half look brilliant. Legs and feet were made for dancing but this was just all rolling about on the floor. Definitely will not be repeating the experience, give me Northern Ballet any time. As a dancer of 65 years, this was the worst performance I have ever seen.