Dance review: Scottish Ensemble and Andersson Dance, Tramway, Glasgow

A scene from
Prelude - skydiving from a dream, performed by by Andersson Dance and the Scottish Ensemble — A scene from Prelude - skydiving from a dream, performed by by Andersson Dance and the Scottish Ensemble

There are so many delicious moments in this remarkable new collaboration from Scottish Ensemble and Andersson Dance, you leave feeling as if you have gorged on the very stuff of life. Chaos, calm, disharmony, beauty, fear, connection, isolation '“ it's all here, conveyed through music, movement or both.

The Scottish Ensemble and Andersson Dance, Tramway, Glasgow *****

The Stockholm-based dance company provides three of the night’s performers: Clyde Emmanuel Archer, Ida Holmlund and Hokuto Kodama, each of whom has their own particular way of keeping us spellbound. Archer in particular grabs us with his wing-span arms, switching from graceful eagle to voguing clubber in the blink of an eye.

Motion is everywhere throughout the 75 minute piece – whether it’s the structured choreography of Örjan Andersson on one side of the stage, or the frenetic bowing of the musicians on the other, their bodies twitching busily like bees in a hive. Such moments of division are rare however, because the true beauty of Prelude - skydiving from a dream lies in the collaboration.

When the musicians put their instruments aside and dance, it’s hard to wipe the smile off your face, so filled with joy is their execution. When they play - Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue and works by Bach and Lutosławski – the air crackles with theatricality and tension, before melting into sections of exquisite splendour.

Costumes, dramatic lighting and inventive staging all add to the magic, in a show that can’t put a foot, or note, wrong. - Kelly Apter