Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman is in focus in the Royal NZ Ballet's latest season.
Just 33 years old, Ekman's output is prodigious, creating not only ballets but also film, opera and large-scale events; he is much in demand around the world.
The three ballets presented here, Tuplet, Episode 31 and Cacti, are entertaining pieces without any deep significance. They're anti-classical in terms of style and genre and with comedic moments to raise chuckles every now and then.
Ekman intends you to sit back and enjoy what comes. (If you are close to the stage, the kinetic excitement of the dancers is bound to get under your skin as well.) A number of his hallmarks feature in these works: a preoccupation with rhythm and philosophical questions, intermixing music from several different sources, the inclusion of voiceovers and the use of floor mats, rostra and lighting to create small areas within which the dancers perform.
Despite the rapid pace, the dancers seem to relish performing the fast paced, sharp-edged and often edgy movement sequences interspersed with brightly lit freeze frame moments. Each of the ballets, nevertheless, remains distinct.
