At The Ballet

Having been suitably nagged by the friends to catch the Nederlands Dans Theatre's (NDT) double-bill of 'Mémoires d’Oubliettes' and 'Sehnsucht', I did. After all, a cancelled vacation meant I've plenty of time freed up this month. I know how acclaimed the dance company is, but I've never really paid it very much attention. Contemporary works rarely get my interest. But some of the friends are really into it, and it's difficult not to be somewhat influenced. They've gifted me dvds of the company's ballets and those really made me decide to watch it if I get the chance to. It's very nice when world renowned performances make Singapore one of their stops in the Asia Pacific.

The dancing, is nothing less than sterling. It's superb. Oh the discipline is absolutely stunning! It's exhilarating to see the sort of control the dancers have over their bodies. Very inspiring. The set designs are pretty cool as well. Effort has gone into creating the set of the rotating room within a cube for 'Sehnsucht'. (Click here for the 2-minute video of the ballet.)

It's contemporary ballet in a brilliant form of surrealism. Trust me, I had many duhh moments while watching it. I don't profess to understand all of it, but I get what both are trying to say. The styles of Jirí Kylián and Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, are understandably different. However, I'm not familiar enough with their works to be able to make a good objective comment on a general scale. But yes, the new resident choreographers will take the NDT in a new direction.

I prefer 'Mémoires d’Oubliettes' over 'Sehnsucht' simply because the latter makes my brain work harder to try to link it to personal emotions and experiences. That's kinda enigmatic and purposefully inconclusive. I don't like that. Perhaps it's related to my current state of mind and what it identifies with at this stage of my life. 'Mémoires d’Oubliettes' is poignant as it explores the tenuous links between our memories and the state of being...of how we want to live this life, and how we want to be remembered, if at all.