Richard Alston Dance Company
Oxford Playhouse, 25-26.03.03

The Richard Alston Dance Company was launched in 1994, and has grown to be Britain's largest independent dance company. In 35 years of dance-making Richard Alston has created a refreshingly unique and innovative style, combining the old and the new, the fantastical and the real. Alston's work has the quality of moving his audiences through clouds of graceful expressiveness and intense moments of energy that charges among the dancers on the stage.

The evening at Playhouse begins with Stampede, Alston's latest creation, performed by a company of 12 and set to the exotic, Moorish-influenced sounds of mediaeval Italian music. The Trotto is a relatively fast leaping dance and the male members of the company, dressed in elfish pale blue, spring effortlessly with deliberate yet playful, weightless leaps. The Istampitta (or Estampida as it is known in Spain) was a formal dance for couples that probably originated from a kind of stamping dance. The footsteps follow a rhythmic beat, respecting the connection between dance and music. The music is simple, with a folky feel to it, and it flows through the dancing bodies with ease. The performers dance as if celebrating in a social ceremony, occasionally coming forth to spin their own solo stories. The male solos in particular create a powerful effect, with smooth yet strong, controlled movements. What mars Stampede though is the predictability of steps that don't necessarily complement the simplicity of the music. Moreover, the dancers' preoccupation with the bending, stretching and collapsing movements at times seems to overtake the harmony of rhythm and music that Alston so highly prizes.

The second act, Slow Airs Almost All of Them, gives the dancers the freedom of the full stage space to perform a series of graceful, innovative duets. The inspiration for this piece is Mozart's arrangements of several Bach fugues for string trio. It unfolds accompanied by beautiful, quiet Mozartian introductions played live by three musicians on stage: violin, viola and cello. What is created is conceptually laudable, with movements so meditative, flowing and confident in their unhurried character that they seem to flow out of the bounds of the performance. The sequence remains earthy, and the bodies stretch as if Matisse figures brought to life. Unfortunately however, this piece also exposes some of Alston's limitations. Strangely, the reasons that make this piece praiseworthy also undermine its creative potential. The movements are sometimes so leisurely, so smooth, that they come dangerously close to being a bit limp and at times letting the audience's attention drift away.

The final act of the evening, Alston's Rumours and Visions (1993), seems arguably one of his best. Set to Britten's song cycle Les Illuminations, Martin Lawrance and Jonathan Goddard perform as the poets Rimbaud and Verlaine, while Alston's expressive choral sections carve out a sculptural exuberance in the auditorium space. The costumes are designed in stylish, simple comfort, and stand out beautifully in contrast to a dark stage thus further bringing out the dramatic effect of the dancing. As the movements play out, rhythm dances with the music, never apart and never overpowering it. The possibilities of the movements embracing on the stage leave one excited in anticipation and truly elated as they begin to take shape.

All in all, the company has put forward a great show that vibrates with a passionate and an insightful stance on bodies, music and movement.

Gayatri Singh, 25.03.03