Musicality is the watchword, the key to everything Richard Alston's company does, even when, as in this programme, the dancers are following another choreographer's steps and intentions.
Actually, seeing Martin Lawrence credited with the making of Grey Allegro was almost shocking: since Alston formed a company and put his own name on it (in 1994)
no-one else has choreographed a single exit or entrance on his dancers. Lawrence, however, has been part of the group since 1995
- he was appointed rehearsal director this year - and is clearly in step with Alston's own tastes.
Like Alston, he takes an inspirational charge from the music, in this instance a set of keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti that run
with fiercely rapid rhythms - the
on-stage pianist Jason Ridgeway accounted for them with nimble elan. There are delicious turns of speed, too, in the dancers' movement: nifty spins and fleet passes. But there's also a clean-cut, unhassled feel to Lawrence's accumulation of motifs, a purposeful structure that begins and ends on similar lines without lapsing
into predictability.
The programme begins and ends with choice works by Alston: Brisk Singing (1997) and the recently premiered Overdrive. Both pieces visibly revel in responding to the intricacies of music as apparently disparate as Rameau's baroque choruses (in Brisk Singing) and Terry Riley's rolling, repetitive phrases - his Keyboard Study No 1 ignites a whirlwind of leaping and turning, in which even the floor shifts from pale grey to profound purple or radiant blue-green.
All 11 dancers - variously costumed in grey and red - possess the space in relays, adopting and adapting one another's moves with a finesse that is so precise and yet seems utterly spontaneous. No wonder they got umpteen curtain calls: a brilliant triple bill.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article