Ballet de Lorraine: Citrus Essences and Folia Review – Gorgeous with a Wild Touch | Dance

IIn 2008, Adam Linder won the Venue Award, the biggest dance award in the UK at the time, and then seemingly disappeared. In fact, he went to Berlin, but suffice it to say, it has been a long time since his works have been presented on the London stage. Now he’s back with a piece made for the Ballet de Lorraine double bill.

Acid Gems is inspired by George Balanchine’s 1967 abstract ballet Gems. Instead of the rich colors of emerald or ruby, as in the original, here we get a sharp neon, saturated pink Wham Bar background, interrupted by a palette of other E-numbers (lit by artist Shahriar Neshat). Linder trained at the Royal Ballet School before turning down ballet, but it is clear that he remains in dialogue with his roots. Although at first, this piece seems to owe more to Sharon Eyal than to the likes of Balanchine – the unsettling tone, the aloof stare, the slow undulations and jutting hips, the clan of dancers moving in a group as tight as their Lycra. But it expands into something more interesting that crosses the line between forms: staggered jumps, prickly angles, and then a version of the running man. Linder uses simplified geometry very clearly.

The vogue for club dancing and male erotica that Leander exploits is also where Marco da Silva Ferreira’s piece “Folia” begins. (The Portuguese choreographer was a finalist for last year’s Rose Award.) It would have been 2 a.m. in a dark mist on the dance floor, with an array of outlandish costumes: fringes, shoulder pads, tie-dye, slits, slits, and straps; Skin-colored suit with green ponytail.

The strangely flowery 4/4 melody turns unexpectedly into the harpsichord arpeggio of Corelli’s La Folia violin sonata (re-imagined by composer Luis Pestana) and the gathering turns into a riot, with the raucous crowd cheering as the dancers perform tricks. Da Silva Ferreira’s idea is that a party, or getting together to dance wildly and freely, can change the world. But it strangely reminded me of the hedonistic court life on the TV show The Great, with its self-congratulatory celebrations of excess and exhibitionism. This scene does not mark the end of the journey—later on, this piece begins to feel very complacent, as the guest overstays his welcome—but it is a vivid highlight. Now where’s the after party?