S. A. McCracken Archives

Stravinsky: The Fairy’s Kiss and The Rite of Spring

S.A. McCracken 16/10/2017

When Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was first performed in Paris in 1913, the score and choreography were so controversial...

Reviewer's Rating

Velvet Petal

S.A. McCracken 10/05/2017

What does the controversial photography of Robert Mapplethorpe have in common with the life cycle of a ...

Welcome to Dance International Glasgow (or DIG Festival) where I’m at The Tramway, home of Scottish Ballet, for the world premiere of their new production, Each Other. This piece, created by Dutch-Israeli choreographers Ivgi and Greben, is an exploration of borders, of division and unity. Tom Parkinson’s score was created in studio with the dancers as they rehearsed, and therefore responds to, rather than dictates the choreography. An electronic thrum is broken by the occasional piano melody, but more often than not, by a sound like boots crunching on gravel. The stage is covered in shoes: trainers, pumps, boots, heels, all scattered across the floor at random. A few dancers in ragged, flesh-tone clothes rearrange the shoes to create barriers, islands of bare floor, and paths between these spaces. Why shoes? They come to evoke so many things during the show: all of the shoes a ballet dancer must go through during their career; individuals lost in a consumerist wasteland; the famous archive of shoes on display at Auschwitz, and the increasing comparisons between contemporary politics and events building up to WW2. The wealth of possible interpretations is one reason why I’ll be thinking about this production for some time. Ivgi and Greben’s choreography creates the illusion of contact improvisation, and is heavily influenced by contemporary dance, with the occasional traditional ballet flourishes and stag leaps. The company moves in and out of unison, pulsing with the score in clannish formations. Yaron Abulafia’s lighting design is subtle and atmospheric, creating a searchlight effect in the frantic border-building scenes, or when the dancers tear down these barriers of shoes. The one comic scene –where a dancer shuffles slowly onto the stage carrying an impossible number of shoes – takes a dark turn as he is buried alive beneath them by the rest of the company. We’re treated to an extraordinary solo by Kayla-Maree Tarantolo, the rebel character who walks along the top of the wall of shoes, instead of choosing sides. Taratolo’s solo tells her character’s story through a range of contortionist-like movements before reaching an ecstatic, breathless conclusion – which is something like what you’ll be feeling after you watch this production. Each Other engages adeptly with the International theme of DIG festival, inviting us to question the purpose and consequences of borders within and between nations, as well as the role of the individual in the crowd.al

Reviewer's Rating

Scottish Ballet: Each Other

S.A. McCracken 28/04/2017

Welcome to Dance International Glasgow (or DIG Festival) where I’m at The Tramway, home of Scottish Ballet, for the world...

Reviewer's Rating

Hay Fever

S.A. McCracken 12/04/2017

Dominic Hill’s production of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever is a playful if traditional take on the well-loved 1924 comedy of manners.

Reviewer's Rating

Faslane

S.A. McCracken 30/03/2017

or those of you who’ve never heard of Faslane, it’s the Trident nuclear warhead base in Scotland. Jenna Watt’s one-woman...

Panti: High Heels in Low Places Tramway, Glasgow. Photo Conor Horgan

Reviewer's Rating

Panti: High Heels in Low Places

S.A. McCracken 14/03/2017

anti Bliss, the Queen of Ireland, talks glamourous diseases, the Pantigate scandal, and back-to-boy makeovers. Wearing a red sparkly bodycon...

Reviewer's Rating

#negrophobia

S.A. McCracken 03/03/2017

negrophobia is a searing, multimedia exploration of attitudes towards black male bodies. The production defies categorisation, blending poetry, dance and...

Reviewer's Rating

The Cause of Thunder

S.A. McCracken 20/02/2017

he Cause of Thunder is a blistering one-man Brexistential crisis full of humour and pathos. The show tells the story...

Black Beauty Red Bridge and Traverse Theatre

Reviewer's Rating

Black Beauty

S.A. McCracken 20/02/2017

addle up for Black Beauty as you’ve never seen it before; the McCuddy brothers are guaranteed to whinny you over....

Scottish Ballet: Hansel & Gretel at The Theatre Royal, Glasgow

Reviewer's Rating

Scottish Ballet: Hansel & Gretel

S.A. McCracken 08/01/2017

delicious family treat – and the witch is the cherry on top. In 2013, choreographer Christopher Hampson created and debuted...

Reviews

Abigail’s Party

The Lightest Element

Antony & Cleopatra

Featured

Slave Play

Features

Fiddler on the Roof

Rigoletto

Your Lie in April

Featured

A Critic’s Advice on Reviewing

Stravinsky: The Fairy’s Kiss and The Rite of Spring

Velvet Petal

Scottish Ballet: Each Other

Hay Fever

Faslane

Panti: High Heels in Low Places

#negrophobia

The Cause of Thunder

Black Beauty

Scottish Ballet: Hansel & Gretel