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Dance

BalletBoyz: The TALENT, Young Men at Sadler's Wells

05 Oct 15 – 10 Oct 15, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM

The BalletBoyz, Keaton Henson and choreographer Ivan Perez bring their deeply affecting portrayal of young men at war back to Sadler’s Wells.

By CW Contributor on 24/8/2015

BalletBoyz: Young Men, credit Hugo Glendinning
BalletBoyz: Young Men, credit Hugo Glendinning
BalletBoyz: The TALENT, Young Men at Sadler's Wells BalletBoyz: The TALENT, Young Men at Sadler's Wells Ruth Mattock
Click here to read our BalletBoyz: Young Men review


One of Britain’s most exciting ballet troupes, the all-male BalletBoyz: The TALENT, played their own part in the centenary of World War I with Young Men, a full-length work delving into the complex relationships of men at once boys, soldiers and friends.
The work, which features a specially commissioned score by the cult singer-songwriter Keaton Henson, is choreographed by rising star Iván Pérez, who has already tested his mettle against the likes of Nederlands Dans Theater and Ballet Moscow.
Through a series of scenes, non-chronological vignettes of the wartime experience, Perez carries the Boyz from love and friendship to loss and survival, all against a background of the senseless brutality of war.
A circle of booted, soldier-like dancers launch themselves one by one at a central figure, whether in attack or loving desperation we cannot tell. The circle melts into a training ground, where the hard-faced men throw themselves relentlessly into the floor, urged on by the emotionless voice of their leader.


Interview: BalletBoyz Michael Nunn and William Trevitt talk dance, film and finding new stars

balletboyz interview

One man is brought in alone, writhing in little clothing as though trapped in the throes of an inescapable nightmare. Only the careful attentions of his comrades, calm and repetitive, can bring him back into wakefulness.
Perez is a choreographer who imbues his steps with violence, both physical and emotional, with speed and the wheeling of limbs just under control. The militaristic patterns of this piece and its inevitable masculinity have drawn from him a more grounded power, thudding into the stage to the thunder of Henson’s score.
In two scenes, the Boyz are joined on stage by two female dancers - a surprising move for the all-male company and one that divided the critics. The dancers themselves attested though to a new atmosphere in rehearsal thanks to that female influence.
Filmed sequences play both as background and as an integral part of the choreography. One scene hones in on the aggressive despair of a single soldier, danced by Matthew Rees. It’s not the first time they’ve made use of his grimly expressive face and hardened brows - he’s the face of Keaton Henson’s music video to Healah’s Dancing.
The BalletBoyz are no strangers to Henson's music, having worked on several of his videos; his tense score, at times threatening or lonely, is played live on stage to looming atmospheric effect.
The much acclaimed programme from English National Ballet, Lest We Forget, presented three specially commissioned pieces from front-line choreographers inspired by various aspects of WW1, and that too returns in the Sadler's Wells new season. However, there is always a special buzz to whatever the Balletboyz do, and the young, male cast in such weighty material carries a rare and captivating note of authenticity.
Young Men brings life and realism to a sombre meditation on the war that so irreversibly changed the lives of millions of real young men, and shows an exciting contemporary company at their impressive peak.


Booking for the Sadler's Wells Autumn/Winter season, 2015/2016, opens at 10am on Monday 11 May 2015.


click for more dance
recommendations

What BalletBoyz: The TALENT, Young Men at Sadler's Wells
Where Sadler's Wells, Roseberry Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN | MAP
Nearest tube Angel (underground)
When 05 Oct 15 – 10 Oct 15, 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Price £12-38
Website Click here to book via the Sadler's Wells website



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    A little more...

    Iván Pérez

    Pérez trained at the Conservatory of his hometown Alicante and the University Rey Juan Carlos, where he graduated with honours for the best choreographic composition. He joined Nederlands Dans Theater II where he created ‘Minube,’  which won first prize at the International Competition of Choreography Burgos-New York. In his seven years with the company he became familiar with the works of Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek and many other choreographers who would inspire him to create several pieces for NDT, and the National Ballet of Cuba. After creating the acclaimed Flesh for NDT in 2011, Pérez left the company to pursue his career as a choreographer. He is now Associate Artist at Korzo Theater in the Netherlands.

    Keaton Henson:

    As the son of an actor and a ballet dancer, Henson seems an apt choice to compose for Pérez’s dance theatre production. Henson is a multifaceted artist: a visual artist and poet as well as composer. He began as an illustrator, designing artworks for album covers including Enter Shikari’s ‘Take to the Skies’, and making music as a hobby. After some online success he released his first album Dear… Radio play by Zane Lowe on Radio 1 of ‘You don’t know how lucky you are’ boosted his audience, and the subsequent rerelease of Dear… earned him a cult following. Heston suffers from stage fright so appearances are rare, and usually small - 2013 saw him play a series of small churches. He continues to make use of his multiple talents - a limited edition of second album Birthdays came with a small piece of a large artwork Henson had created and cut into 196. He released Romantic Works without warning in June 2014, on the day of a concert he was to perform at the Southbank Centre.

    Film

    The BalletBoyz paid tribute to the victims of war in this specially commissioned short film for Channel 4, 70 years after D-Day. Watch it here.

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Dance

BalletBoyz

Keaton Henson

WW1 Centenary

Sadler's Wells

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