Sadler’s Wells, London
GöteborgsOperans Danskompani’s versatile dancers tumble, slide and climb in Damien Jalet’s vertiginous piece then switch to more measured movements by Sharon Eyal
The last time Sweden’s GöteborgsOperans Danskompani performed at Sadler’s Wells, in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Icon, they had three and a half tonnes of clay on stage with them, so this bold, cool and accomplished company are not afraid of a statement prop. This time it’s a dancefloor inclined at 34 degrees in Damien Jalet’s Skid. That’s a pretty steep slope, with graceful scuff marks on its white surface like fissures in a sheet of ice. A body emerges over the top and cedes to gravity, very slowly sliding, through a thick, swelling wall of sound by experimental electronic artist Christian Fennesz and Japanese composer Marihiko Hara.
Skid is an exercise in what can be done in this particular inhospitable terrain. Speed gradually increases, dancers start to tumble more intentionally and slide through each other’s legs. Then there’s the upward climb, a crouching march, the squeak of rubber soles digging in. We even get a naked body suspended on the wall in a kind of amniotic sac (or trapped in a pair of tan tights if you’re being less poetic about it). The idea of struggling against or surrendering to natural forces is a strong concept, but that drama doesn’t particularly materialise.
