In the huge Zuiveringshal of Amsterdam's Westergasfabriek, musicians from jubilee Het Balletorkest live it up on stage in the creative dance performance Creatures. They even lie flat on the floor or swing loose in a small big band.
'Come and see that, Creatures: special show with fifty musicians and ten breakdancers," shouts the man at the door. The last tickets for the premiere must be sold. Creatures is at the Zuiveringshal in Amsterdam for a fortnight. Schools visit the show during the week, on weekends anyone can see it. But Creatures is such a spectacle that, with a revolving stage against it, could well stand in a hangar near Valkenburg for a year.
And that with minimal use of technicians. In fact, the orchestra members are also technicians. In addition to their impressive playing, they move set pieces, or are themselves part of the dance. Special is the moment when, because of the costumes, you cannot distinguish between the dancers and the musicians, who come crawling or swarming like dark creatures. You can almost imagine the musicians continuing to do the same at home. Despite having about four days of rehearsals with the orchestra, they are totally absorbed in their roles.
Creatures, a concept of the Belgian-Philippine Marco Gerris, is about a young couple's journey through evolution, beginning in the Cambrian[hints].Cambrian: ca. 540 to 500 million years ago. This period is named after Cambria (the Latin name for North Wales), where the first deposits from this era were found. After the Ice Age at the end of the Proterozoic, life got a new lease of life. A host of new species emerged in a very short time, laying the foundation for today's species[/hints]. With a burst of colours and life, you experience the Big Bang itself, so to speak. In the acoustics of the Purification Hall, music echoes out to you, ranging from Le boeuf sur le toit From Darius Milhaud to Jurassic Park Theme by John Williams. This works overwhelmingly and occasionally reduces the dance to decoration.
The first dance by the central pair, Joella Ramos and Abdelhadi Baaddi, comes off better thanks in part to the accompanying four strings (in socks!). You can hear the dancers moving, which is also why live dance on stage is more impressive than on television. By the way, all the dancers, including the lithe and inimitable Gil Gomes and Sarita Keilman, show with their skills see why they are among the select, Amsterdam-based ISH Dance Collective belong. Be it endless upside-down spinning on the floor or fearsome tumbling in a cage atop a tall tower, Creatures is almost a battle between orchestra and dancers: no one wants to be inferior to the other.
The aerial acrobatics of Micka Karlsson and Romain Touron are also striking. Lacking a safety net, you hold your breath at this part, but air angel Karlsson is also Ms Gerris, so safety must have been considered by the director (Mr Gerris).
Creatures is thus many and grand and goes very creative with the use of The Ballet Orchestra. Right down to a walking brachiosaur. The storyline is a bit thin and hard to find in the whole. And you don't encounter much intimate emotion in the massive fest either. But according to evolutionary theory, life actually has no underlying thought and emotions are ultimately meaningless. So that's right.
Creatures can be seen until 22 May at the Zuiveringshal of the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. The choreography is by Korzo choreographer Shailesh Bahoran. Click for more information or tickets.
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