Cedar Lake

A fiery combustion of contemporary ballet.
Laetitia Laubscher
March 02, 2015

In partnership with

Overview

The ten-year-old A-list New York-based Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Company are fierce, unforgettable dancers. And from 12 to 15 March, they will be bringing their European-inspired choreography to The Civic as a part of the Auckland Arts Festival.

The just over two-hour performance features choreography by Europe's most sparkling and fresh exports - Crystal Pite, Hofesh Schechter and Jo Strømgren.

Crystal Pite's Grace Engine is a Proustian epic performance which was "really about trying to create a sense of shared narrative over time”, Pite says. The imaginative dance knits together the big dramatic moments of various generations into a combustion of movement.

Israeli-born London-based Hofesh Shechter's Violet Kid is an exploration of tension - taking his cues from the raw, but powerful energy found in synchronised tribal dancing.

Norwegian Jo Stromgren's Necessity, Again is a dance which juxtaposes Charles Aznavour songs with a recording of a text by Jacques Derrida. “He is perhaps the most incomprehensible of all French philosophers,” Mr. Stromgren said of Derrida in a New York Times interview. “I can’t understand a thing! I wanted a contrast between something extremely dry and intellectual with something very emotional. I thought of it as a meeting between two extremes, a contrast that would perhaps enhance and intensify the quality of the dance. There is nothing to understand; relax, and let your imagination roam.”

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