Review: Ballet de Lorraine: Acid Gems and a Folia, Queen Elizabeth Hall

The opening of Ballet de Lorraine’s Acid Gems has two Lifeguards sitting aloft two high-laddered seats viewing a white backdrop. They sit relaxed, high above the stark white floor, nothing to see here! Slowly emerging are neon clad lycra-bodies, vividly creating shapes, rippling and contorting their way into the space as the Lifeguard chairs are slowly pulled back to give space to the visually electric slow build of the writhing mass. 

This force of colour, of expression, both individual and collective, cannot be stopped, cannot be contained as individuals fall and are caught, then dragged with slow intention only to be recycled into the mix of movement. It is a beach party, it is a stomping display of individuality, it is a collective rave as individual steps or moves are replicated, from the off-centre gyration, into the first, to the fifth, with hip rotations moving to excessive turned-out positions. Perhaps it is a ballet? 

Movement emphasises extension, with arch articulation, rapidly moving to knee bends and dragged from releve into circles of intricate patterns, giving some temporary unity – only to be shattered again and again. The soundscape and original music by Billy Bultheel was incredibly provoking with its array of sounds, as it forces or follows this amoeba-like collective that unifies and splits and unifies. I don’t think we should worry too much about what it is about but rather what it is, and Adam Linder’s present piece is absorbing with its dayglo colours, and body shapes that dynamically and vividly pierce the empty space – something to see here after all, something rather marvellous.

In contrast, a Folia, the second half of the programme is a, stunning evocation of the dark earth, with the company on a jet-black floor pulling at the ground, ripping into the places we come from. It is executed with frantic attention to shape and space as the body exalts in the physical, in the attraction and repulsion of need and desire. Choreographed by Marco da Silva Ferreira, the company has stunning collective, patterned movement that echoes the excitement of festival and fecundity as they spin and crave each other, sometimes holding or lifting or pushing, but always collectively supporting the quest for celebration and expression of regeneration. There is the most exhilarating atmosphere to the piece, heady and exciting, with an element of danger as dancers throw themselves into solo displays of excitement, as onlookers writhe and gyrate. However, there are times of darkness, too, suggested by sound (brilliantly curated and composed by Luis Pestana), clashing atmospheric lights (Teresa Antunes), and a striking mish-mash of costumes that emanate seduction and foreboding. All this captures the contradictory narrative of human experience, the delicacy of attraction, the explosive nature of desire and the connection to the root of earth and the souls of all. Many of whom seemingly can be chased by dark forces; by a ratcatcher-like character that was pervasive in the group and even at times breaking the fourth wall to confront the audience, passive observers of this frenzied activity. 

Da Silva Ferreira piece is creative in mood, shape and intention, creating images that linger in the imagination, the pirouettes, the shoulder lifts at once tough then tender but perhaps palmed hands opening and closing like bellows will linger longer. This physical image is repeated, at first used by the few and ultimately the whole company fuses in angular formation using the closed palm movement that bellows form hand to hand, through arms and then through body, all pulsating – the breath and intention shared. Unity amongst the many. 

Acid Gems:
Choreography: Adam Linder
Original music: Billy Bultheel
Lighting: Shahryar Nashat
Costumes: Antonin Tron with the Atelier costume department of the CCN – Ballet de Lorraine. Choreographic assistants: Delphine Gaborit and Doug Letheren
Rehearsals: Valérie Ferrando
a Folia:
Choreography: Marco da Silva Ferreira
Music: Luis Pestana (inspired by Arcangelo Corelli)
Lighting: Teresa Antunes
Costumes: Aleksandar Protic
Choreographic assistant: 
Catarina Miranda
Rehearsals: Valérie Ferrando

Ballet de Lorraine: Acid Gems and a Folia plays at The Queen Elizabeth Hall until Saturday March 7