Russell Maliphant’s latest piece was such a hit that Sadler’s Wells is already bringing it back for two performances. So if you didn’t catch it last year, here’s your chance to revel in a work that is even more visually seductive than Maliphant’s usual fare. And that’s saying something.
AfterLight started when the British choreographer was looking at performance photographs of the great dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and at abstract drawings Nijinsky had made. In those arcs, angles and spirals, Maliphant found a sympathetic connection to the incredibly fluid and sculpted precision of his own trademark movement style.
The piece begins with an intense and rolling solo for Daniel Proietto (who won a National Dance Award earlier this year for his performance with the Russell Maliphant Company), set to Satie’s Gnossiennes. Two women then join Proietto in a beautiful homage to Nijinsky’s Jeux. As AfterLight moves on, there are contrasting duets that alternate between muscular heft and impassioned lyricism. The piece ends with Proietto spinning hypnotically back into his own private fantasy.
As always, the lighting designer Michael Hulls is an equal partner in Maliphant’s gorgeous stage pictures, and here he exceeds even his own amazing standards. His designs evoke a dappled pond, a forest glade, a swirl of clouds, a boxing ring and a spider’s web, and his images virtually sweep the dance off its feet. Andy Cowton’s commissioned music picks up where Satie leaves off, but honours the same delicacy and lucidity.
Sadler’s Wells, London EC1 (sadlerswells.com 0844 8710090), Mon and Tues