by Rose Rushe
“Dancing bodies rarely look more beautiful than in the work of Russell Maliphant” – The Guardian
ONE of Europe’s most prestigious dance companies visits Limerick for one night only on Tuesday 27 to introduce us to ‘Still Current’ which is a suite of five pieces created by Russell Maliphant.
Maliphant is a name of names in modern dance and classical. His eponymous company is around since 1996, he worked with Sadler’s Wells for a long time and remains an associate artist. Now having finished an interlude with English National Ballet, he observes simply: “I like working with classical dance as much as contemporary. I like working with movement”.
He is performer, director, choreographer with ‘Still Current’ and of the individual works, attributes the influence of lighting designer Michael Hulls to a reputation for stunning visuals on stage. “We have 20 years of being in collaboration and you can see something of that journey in a piece done in 1998 near the beginning to one in 2010, the first in which an overhead projector was used”.
There are more recent pieces still, lit for effects and bodily silhouette.
This synergy between dancer, the dance, how light plays on stage is complemented by original music commissioned by Russell Maliphant Company (“there are some beautiful piano pieces”).
Performance is enhanced by drawing out each dancer’s qualities. In finalising a work, “I use video editing a lot, together with the dancers”, informing structure, shaping the whole: “always of collaborative value”.
To the man and woman for whom a visit to contemporary dance seems a leap too far, he suggests the corollary of a visit to a gallery, “Other than this time it’s a musical journey as much as a journey in movement, and a visual one”.
At Lime Tree Theatre, Tuesday 27, 8pm. www.limetreetheatre.ie
