United Kingdom Natalia Horečná’s La Strada: ACWorkroom Ltd, Sadler’s Wells, London, 25.1.2024. (JO’D)
Creatives:
Choreography – Natalia Horečná
Music – Nino Rota
Set and Costume design – Otto Bubeníček
Lighting design – Andrea Giretti
Forged:
Gelsomina – Alina Cojocaru
Zampanò – Mick Zeni
Il Matto – Johan Kobborg
Angels – Marc Jubete, David Rodriguez
Artists – Yaiza Coll, Winnie Dias, Maria Tolstunova, Giulio Galimberti, Lukas Hunt, Robert Weithas
Taking its inspiration from Federico Fellini’s 1954 movie of the identical identify, La Strada is the primary full-length dance fee by former Principal of The Royal Ballet and English Nationwide Ballet, Alina Cojocaru. It tells the story of a ‘childlike’ lady, Gelsomina (Cojocaru), who’s offered by her mom to a circus sturdy man, Zampanò (Mick Zeni). Whereas travelling on the street because the latter’s assistant, Gelsomina meets tightrope walker, Il Matto (Johan Kobborg). Her subsequent fascination with him arouses Zampanò’s jealousy. A battle between the 2 males leads to Il Matto’s dying.
Though utilizing music that Nino Rota composed for La Strada and for different movies by Fellini, choreographer Natalia Horečná makes it clear within the programme notes that, ‘We aren’t mimicking the Gelsomina of the film … we work with the individuals we’ve in entrance of us and let it play out’. She defines her type, which mixes the classical and the modern, as ‘soiled neoclassicism’.
Alina Cojocaru dances in pointe sneakers, a logo of her character’s ‘goodness’, however is surrounded by dancers whose level of reference is the ground. Like dancers within the work of Mats Ek, they often depart the stage by rolling throughout it into the wings The piece additionally contrasts the maturity of its three protagonists with the youth of six ‘Artists’ and two ‘Angels’, who enable extra alternatives for Cojocaru to be lifted, to exist within the air.
In her gestures, Alina Cojocaru can’t assist however evoke all of the heroines of classical ballets she has ever danced. Johan Kobborg, who was a member of the Royal Danish Ballet and The Royal Ballet, rides a monocycle and engages in a battle, however is elsewhere nonetheless in a position to present what dance author Zoë Anderson described as his ‘quick, clear Danish footwork, with sensible beats and jumps’.
The distinction of types and ages that characterise the work may be attention-grabbing. Regardless of this, and regardless of Alina Cojocaru’s constantly luminous presence, La Strada lacks general dramatic pressure. It’s as if some preliminary concepts weren’t labored by means of or sufficiently thought out. A climax on the finish of Act I misfires; the second act doesn’t add a lot to the primary. The Artists and Angels, of various dance backgrounds, show their youthful power. However what they do over the course of two acts turns into repetitive. In the long run, they appear nearly to be filling out the time.
The place La Strada undoubtedly does succeed is within the creation of an environment of melancholy by means of the music of Nino Rota, the set and costume design of Otto Bubeníček, and the lighting design of Andrea Giretti. And it has the ‘look’ of a Fellini movie: lengths of blue material hanging on picket poles in a line, lightbulbs suspended in a double loop, fanciful circus costumes which embrace striped trousers and braces, Mercury helmets and tutus. For Il Matto himself, a pair of angel’s wings. It’s the music, the visible inventiveness, and Alina Cojocaru’s efficiency that maintain the viewers’s consideration nearly to the very finish.
John O’Dwyer
