✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper


Sign up by Email or Facebook.

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we sent newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Turning tips into memories

Get started Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Kids
  • Benefits
  • Membership
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Benefits
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Dance

GöteborgsOperans Danskompani Review ★★★★★

30 Nov 18 – 01 Dec 18, Dur.: 1 hour

Sweden's GöteborgsOperans Danskompani ended its brief London visit at Sadler's Wells with a beautiful but demanding work by choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and sculptor Antony Gormley

By Vikki Vile on 2/12/2018

1 CW reader is interested
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Noetic (c) Bengt Wanselius
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Noetic (c) Bengt Wanselius
GöteborgsOperans Danskompani Review 3 GöteborgsOperans Danskompani Review Teresa Guerreiro
GöteborgsOperans Danskompani are the largest and best known contemporary dance company from Scandinavia. For their London debut they brought to Sadler's Wells two pieces choreographed bySadler’s Wells Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with sets by his frequent collaborator Antony Gormley.


The final work performed in London, Noetic, examines the tension between the human need to plan and the desire to break free.


It’s a highly stylish and elegant piece of choreography, brought to life by the moving orchestral score of Szymon Brzóska, although at times it suffers from attempting to be too intellectual,.


Sculptor Antony Gormley’s set design features a striking bright white backdrop and a set of uniquely versatile, black carbon rods handled by the dancers later in the piece, sometimes joined together as hoops, or left loose to create structures that enclose the cast. However, the first portion of action in this hour long work is left to the dance alone, and there is no denying what exquisite technicians the company are.




Cherkaoui’s choreography for Noetic requires vigorous precision with complex use of hands and arms, flicks of wrists, fingers and elbows that soon emerge as repeated motifs. The full group of nineteen dancers rarely move as one unit, but when they do they display an impressive elegance in such a physically demanding work, turning out well drilled headstands and back-bends, as well as jetés and pirouettes. Brzóska’s temperamental score moves from moments of high energy to stillness and back again.


The high-fashion costuming by Les Hommes provides Noetic with a strong visual identity. The men wear smart black business suits and the women skater style flared dresses in a leather-esque material paired with kneepads and on occasion, patent black heels. The shoes are another repeated motif, consistently taken on and off. Early on, a man walks across the stage carrying them in his hand as if to hint at their later significance. Further on some of the cast swap costumes, the men donning the heels and the women the suits, but the change is never acknowledged by the remaining cast.


A series of scientific monologues on electricity, time, space, data, the meaning of life, and so on are delivered at intervals throughout; but it’s all too disjointed to discern true meaning. Toby Kassell’s monologue has the cleanest delivery, with slick accompanying armorgraphy making for an accomplished addition.


Focus shifts to the carbon rods. When joined they are spun like gymnastics hoops, their shapes striking against the white backdrop. The dancers mould the hoops together to form a globe that rises above their heads, which then becomes a cage that traps two of them. These moments are constructed with mesmerising complexity: the rods never clash or appear out of place, and the cast’s use of space to deliver the precision with an unpredictable prop is very impressive.


The connectivity between dancers and the curves of the carbon fibre lines and how they interact is primarily what Cherkaoui is concerned with in Noetic, but there are too many other trains of thought that distract from the overall message. Noetic is still visually an attractive piece of art, but with dancers of such a high calibre, Cherkaoui could rely more on them than on the spoken word to make an impact.


by Vikki Vile

What GöteborgsOperans Danskompani Review
Where Sadler's Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN | MAP
Nearest tube Angel (underground)
When 30 Nov 18 – 01 Dec 18, Dur.: 1 hour
Price £12-£38 (+booking fee)
Website Click here to book via Sadler's Wells website



Most popular

Things to do this weekend. Picture: NYCB's Prodigal Son
Things to do in London this weekend: 26 - 28 February
Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing (Photo: Lionsgate/Sky)
New to Netflix UK: March 2021
Alicia Vikander in The Glorias, Sky Cinema (Photo: Sky)
What to watch on TV this week

Editor's Picks

BalletBoyz, Young Men
BalletBoyz, Young Men, Wilton's Music Hall Review
TanzTheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Since She (c) Julian Mommert
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Since She Review
James Wilton Dance, The Storm, photo Steve Tanner
James Wilton Dance, The Storm Review
Grey Matter, dancers of Rambert2, (c) Foteini Christofilopoulou
Rambert2, Sadler's Wells Review
Akram Khan, Until the Lions, photo Jean Louis Fernandez
Akram Khan, Until the Lions Review
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Sushi Tetsu

    Feast on top-notch sushi, sashimi and udon at the sophisticated Sushi Tetsu. This tiny shrine to the best of Japanese food has only half a dozen seats at the counter, so advanced booking is definitely necessary.

    Read more...
    Book Map
1

GöteborgsOperans Danskompani

Sadler's Wells

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Antony Gormley

Neosis

Szymon Brzóska

Toby Kassell



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • What is Culture Whisper membership
  • Corporate membership
  • Give a gift membership
  • Retrieve a gift membership
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×