"And Another Thing I meant To Tell You"

[rhythmaning]

I am a fan of Rambert – they play in Edinburgh every year or so (usually in the summer – one time I saw them, I had my walkman radio with me so I could listen to the European Cup in the intervals). I was hooked when I first saw them, twelve years ago: they danced “The Garden Of Unearthly Deligths”, based on the Hieronymos Bosch painting, and it was spectacular – dynamic, exciting, and powerful. So I have seen them when they come to Edinburgh.

Last Saturday, they were just lack-lustre; it was very disappointing.

They danced three selection. The first, “bloom”, was fun, but too samey for too long. An ensemble piece about the difficulty – or inability – of a guy to give a bunch of flowers to a girl, it was quite witty (the flowers were flown in, the fly operator a dancer on stage, and pulled out of dancers hands by the flies; doors with feet below them; the flowers given everyone a bit more energy as they were passed around). The music – some latin-salsa stuff, sometimes performed by a quintet on stage – was fun, the dancing lively, but it didn’t really grab me.

I did like the set – the words “and another thing I meant to tell you” carved out of a backcloth, the letters piled against the backdrop.

The middle piece, “Pond Way”, just passed me by. The music was ambient noodling by Eno. I can’t remember the dance.

They finished with “Constant Speed”, with live music by a composer I hadn’t heard of, Franz Lehar. The dance was energetic, pacey, but it still didn’t really shine.