Choreographers: Andonis Foniadakis, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Ihsan Rustem
There has always been something elegiac about Leonard Cohen’s work. Whether it be the acceptance of an ending in his final albums or the farewells to fleeting love affairs of his early chansons, his music is full of lingering goodbyes. Dance Me sees a selection of Cohen’s output set to modern dance by Ballets Jazz Montreal, and true to the late songwriter and poet’s mordant tone, it’s a funereal and mystical tribute, which at times lapses into uneven territory.
Each song selected from Cohen’s varied catalogue is handled in a slightly different manner by the team led by artistic director Louis Robitaille. A shifting ensemble of dancers move across the stage in swirling formations, highlighted by stark lighting and projections. Recordings of Cohen’s unmistakable voice reading his poetry and talking about his work add just a touch of biographical detail and give his presence a striking tangibility.
An archetypal Cohen figure stalks through the choreography, wearing his characteristic dark suit and fedora hat. This representation illustrates the iconic stature of the man but leads the piece into a tacky low point during a questionable cover version of So Long Marianne, lip-synced by a spot-lit ‘Marianne’. The Cohen character proceeds to lip-sync to a recording of an actor imitating Cohen reading out the heart-breaking letter he wrote to the real Marianne on her deathbed. What should have been an emotional climax is reduced to something slightly amateurish. After having heard Cohen’s real voice to powerful effect, hearing someone not quite reproducing it is jarring.
On the whole though it’s a pleasant evening’s entertainment revisiting a unique back catalogue, with many a limb flailing lyrically across the stage. The interaction between the male and female dancers reflects the romance at the heart of many of Cohen’s songs. This is especially apparent in Dance Me to the End of Love where a central male dancer entwines himself with partner after partner. It’s a simple but effective piece of choreography, each duet like a condensed relationship coming to aching, reluctant, but necessary parting.
Another highlight is Famous Blue Raincoat. A blue-lit flume of spiralling snowflakes falling from the full height of the Sadlers Wells stage evokes the cold December New York of the lyrics. As Cohen stretches out the end of each phrase, the dancers’ movements are spellbindingly at one with the cadence of his shifting tempo. The free, lilting waltz time of the music is perhaps particularly suited to the expression of modern dance, where at other times the dancers can seem limited by the strictures of an electronic drum beat.
Between songs the transitional music of sustained strings can seem a little over ominous, as if it’s needlessly reminding the audience of the presence of death. There are lots of ideas thrown into the pot here, perhaps too many. The strength of the dancing is undeniable: impressively agile, intimate and offering a new perspective on a body of music which is important to many people. As a way of collectively celebrating the career of an artist, the evening is clearly a success for many, with nostalgic emotion beaming from many a face as the applause died down.
Runs until 14 February 2023
