Equilibristic dancers in Leon Lightfoot ballets

The Norwegian Nationalballet – Oslo

Review by Henning Høholt, foto Erik Berg, applaus fotos Tomas Bagackas

OSLO/NORWAY: “An evening with choreographers Sol León and Paul Lightfoot is not any evening. Here something is at stake. The dancers not only dance their outmost – they move with such detail and insistence. The intensity is their answer to the extreme efforts of the choreographers. When these two are in the house, we utilize every muscle we have – as dancers, as company as a house.” This is how balletchief Ingrid Lorentzen wishes the audience welcome in the English language part of the program for the contemporary dance evening that the Norwegian National Ballet premiered at the Opera house in Oslo 21th September 2016. – And that is exactly the experience of contemporary dance that the audience received.

The program was presenting three contemporary ballets by the choreograph duo Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, SAD CASE, SLEIGHT HAND and SAME DIFFERENCE, with three marvelous cast, one in each of them

. – Well actually, some dancers danced in more than one ballet.

The two first Sad Case and Sleight Hand had its Oslo premiere this evening while the last one Same Difference already were presented in 2012 in Oslo.

Since Sol León and Paul Lightfoot in 2011 and 2012 became artistic leader – (Paul Lightfoot) and artistic adviser – (Sol Léon) for Netherlands Dance Theatre, they have, of course, been very occupied in Netherland, therefore it is special that they have time to again present new choreographies in Oslo, and that is thank to that they have excellent dancers who has been involved in these ballets before, and that they now can send to Oslo to work with the Nationalballet dancers, and then they are, them self, visiting Oslo for some days in the end to finish the details, so they are being exactly presented as the choreography duo wants them self.

SAD CASE

– isn´t a sad case at all, but a happy amusing ballet. It was premiered as early as t. November 1998 in Amsterdam.

Sol León describes it: as a happy time, and smiles. We had generate success as dancers and more and more as choreographers, I was six months pregnant and huge. The ballet is like an explotion of hormones. 

 

SILAS HENRIKSEN – equilibristic.

SAD CASE

It starts swinging Latinamerican – Mexican to a mixture of latin american music, which are giving the audience very good happy dance feeling.

A happy moment for us all.

In the center is Silas Henriksen, which has been working with Netherlands Dance Theatre and the two choreographers León – Lightfoot, for five years, but last year, we are happy for that he returned home to The Norwegian National Ballet in Oslo.

It is clear that he has all these “creasy”, equilibristic movements inside in his body and in his mind. He is the center in Sad Case, as he is in the following Sleight of Hand.

In his dancing he has mowed very long way forward from his native place, Arendal, a small village at the Norwegian South Coast – (“The Norwegian Riviera”).

Around Silas Henriksen, in SAD CASE (who was not sad at all), we find a star cast. Camilla Spidsøe, Yoshifumi Inao, Shane Upton and Emma Lloyd.

Some of the best dancers we can find for this kind of contemporary dance in the National ballet -, please note – Shane Upton– is unfortunately not permanently member of the Norwegian Nationalballet.

Bastian Zorzetto is responsible for rehearsing this ballet on behalf of the two choreographers.

They had a lot of fun at the stage, with a lot of good music, some of it excerpts from the mexican film “El Vendor”.

A piece that for me, and some others, who has been following the Norwegian National Ballet since end of the 1970´was being reminded of Wayne McKnights famouse “Gran Canaria” inspired summer holiday ballet “8 days for 575 kr”. – If that ballet has been choreographed to day, it could have been in the direction of Sad Case. – Good memories to have. –

“Actually. I would prefer Sad Case as the final ballet in this production, so I can leave the Operahouse in the evening with a smile on my face, not with a strenge surrealistic look at my face!”

SLEIGHT of HAND

Music by Philip Glass, Symphoni nr 2. 2 part. Well performed by The Opera Orchestra, as also the following ballet with Philip Glass music too was. Conducted by Per Kristian Skalstad. 

In this mysterious ballet we found another brilliant cast, all surrounding Silas Henriksen as the important mysterious expressive center
.

Samantha Lynch and Ole Willy Falkhaugen as two mysterious sculptural columns, surrounding Maiko Nishino and Douve Dekkers as a romantic light couple, which has a lot of beautiful details show in their dance together.

Furthermore Sebastian Goffin, good looking as the central young “innocent”?  person, with Martin Dauchez and Aarne Kristian Ruutu together with Silas Henriksen around him in interesting dance combinations. – “Honestly I didn´t catch the history, -However, that is perhaps the meaning that my fantasy shall do”.

SAME DIFFERENCE

From 2012 we got a renewed version of Same Difference, – that I not have seen earlier. Music by Philip Glass Symphony nr. 3. 3 part and Stringquartet nr. 5 4. part. For this Jahn Magnus Johansen and Stefan Zeromski was responsible for the rehearsing. Again a very interesting and special cast: Kristian Alm, Andreas Heise, Yolanda Correa, Kalyan Boyadjiev, Stine Østvold, Philip Currell and Bastian Zorzetto. Who did their outmost in this surrealistic performance. Honestly for me it was too much screaming, and i didn´t, again, really catch the history.

. Photo: Erik Berg” width=”505″ height=”600″ /> Kristian Alm and Yolanda Correa in Same difference. Photo: Erik Berg