La La La Human Steps @ BAM

I’ve always wanted to explore the mind of an abstract artist, so pardon me while I elaborate on the following hypothesis. Vincent Van Gogh was presumed to have suffered from a rare form of psychosis that caste everything he saw in yellowish, golden light.  But what does this have that have to do with ballet, you ask? Presumed psychosis aside, I’m guessing it is through a similarly distorted and abstract lens that renowned choreographer Edouard Lock interprets post-romantic ballets, but his vision is a kaleidoscope of black and white.

If ever two ballets plucked at the heartstrings of fledgling bunheads, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty were it. Leave it to Lock to revive them as only an innovator could. Brought to the stage by Montreal-based La La La Human Steps, Amjad pays homage to classical technique with grueling pointework executed with painstaking precision. There are no exhaustive codas, tutus or linked-arms and the minimalist, mostly black décor evokes modernity with a contemporary slant. Amid breakneck choreography and bulbous installations projecting images of white sheets and overgrown forest vines, Lock interweaves a narrative that captures the most base and complex human emotions.

Gavin Bryars, David Land and Blake Hargreaves compose a musical score derived from the Tchaikovsky originals that drifts from familiar melody to cacophony; like the repetitious scratching of vinyl in one segment that sounds almost inadvertent. A live piano quartet, composed of a cello and two violas, creates further spatial interest as it recedes and resurfaces into the foreground, reminding us of the synergy between music and choreography. Considering the company is composed of just 9 dancer- 5 women and 4 men- the ballet’s running time of over 100 minutes (with no intermission) seems almost inhumane.

The irony of the word Amjad, a term that applies to both men and women in Arabic, is not lost either. When our two heroines join together for their final pas de dux, the juxtaposition of Odette’s white nightgown and a bare chest, pointe shoe-clad swan prince has androgynous undertone. Even more impressive is the male/male pas de dux that ensues. From the vantage point of a true contemporary choreographer, Lock’s deconstruction castes new light on post-romantic themes then strips them to abstraction.

words by Cameron Phillips