I gave up on William Forsythe's Three Atmospheric Studies at the interval. It had about 90 seconds interesting dance material, but no theatrical value, to my mind, beyond that. He is no wordsmith - and I think a theatre critic would have found the whole affair risible - a great cloud of obscurantism masking utter vacancy. The dance world is, for the most part, politically innocent, not noted for its intellectual rigour, and it responds predictably to a certain kind of liberalism. That said, I really wonder at the institutions that sponsor Forsythe and protect him.
Friday morning: I had wondered idly if the papers would have done better to send columnists rather than dance critics (Simon Jenkins, Michael Gove et al). In the event, it was intriguing how closely Judith Mackrell and Debra Craine mirrored the editorial positions I might have expected from their respective papers. Mackrell clearly didn't know what to make of it and kicked for touch, taking refuge in her own view of the politics. Craine was quite forthright about the pretence and the banality - all credit to her.
A few years ago John Tusa surgically dismembered Forsythe in a long interview for Radio 3. Required listening.
2 comments:
The sad part is the best of the early works (Artifact, China Dogs, In The Middle) had incredibly kinetic choreography that everyone wished they could dance. In NYC, when a Forsythe ballet showed up in town, every dancer went; the cheap seats were packed. More than that, they were doing something that mirrored the times; it was dark, but it was an attempt to take ballet and assimilate it. I have no idea why he persists any longer in allying himself with ballet - except as Willie Sutton said, that's where the money is.
As you say, Leigh, 'ballet' sells. I hadn't seen Clement when I posted ("This staging offers victim art, right-minded, self-obsessed, platitudinous. My childhood involved five years of war, of air-raids, bombing, doodlebugs, machine-gun bursts. It was less scary than this miserable display of political correctness.")
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