ED2015 5/5 Reviews ED2015 Physical Reviews

Seven (Edinburgh International Festival / Ballett am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisberg)

By Lucy Diver | Published on Tuesday 25 August 2015

This is a recent work from Ballett am Rhein, choreographed specifically for Mahler’s Seventh Symphony. As you’d expect from the EIF, both dancers and orchestra are international standard while Martin Schläpfer’s choreography is mostly austere and dramatic, though there are moments of play and humour, violence and menace. This collage of mini-narratives is driven and held together strongly by the music – though the introduction of chairs at the very end came somewhat unexpectedly. Notably and more successfully there is also the use of boots alongside bare feet, soft ballet shoes and pointe shoes. This is razor sharp modern ballet, which fans of classical music and ballet alike will enjoy, as a cut above more populist works like Balletronic.

Edinburgh Playhouse, until 22 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Lucy Diver]