Take The Beatles superlative Sgt Peppers’ Lonely Heart Club
Band album, have it turned into a modern dance show by super fun
choreographer Mark Morris: we had to be in for a treat. Even if the
show didn’t break the intellectual sound barrier, it was bound to be highly
entertaining and pleasurable. Well, no, and I am compelled to introduce a sad
face 😢to support this statement.
The costumes were super yummy, I admit.
The music was awesome, it was arranged by Ethan Iverson to sound more like a
musical's score, and the Beatles music can go there without blushing.
The whole show came across as a homage to the American
musicals of the 60s, think American in Paris. Don’t think West Side Story with
its grand tragedies. So what about the Beatles? What about their genial breakthrough
in terms of the history of music with that album?
The Sgt Peppers’ Lonely Heart Club Band was the band’s
homage to their working class origin. They offered the music band culture’s
naive artistry to the wild wild world of the 60s with drugs and yoga and crazy
costumes and... and dark glasses. They paid homage to the working class’ sweet
taste for tackiness, and at the same time they acknowledged the hardships of
these Lonely Hearts. So little of that groundbreaking approach to making an
album is conveyed by the show. The Penny Lane song does contribute some nice
working class content, but again it’s all fun and eye candy.
Unfortunately, additionally to the lack of meaning, the
choreography was so so so so repetitive. A little repetition is satisfying, a lot turns
sedative. Lots and lots of pieces with couples, female/male couples,
female/female couples, male/male couples, loving, having fun. How did that
relate to the album?
The dance movements had some relevance to what is being done
now, nothing very ground breaking, and to American musicals, as mentioned, and
to 60s pop dance such as the twist – that last part most enjoyable, naturally.
Some of the dancing was quite casual, a bit sloppy, without the usual
perfection reached for in modern dance. Nice.
The cancan was fun. There was some interesting stuff about
mathematical permutations of movements: at first the whole line does the same
movements, then they get shifted so that one dancer does movement #1, 2nd
dancer movement #2, 3rd dancer movement #1. At the next round, the
movements shift across three dancers (easier to do than to explain) instead of
two. That was fun. That type of permutation was applied to another part of the
choreography too. Choreographers can get quite obsessed with mathematical
patterns. But what’s that got to do with the Beatles? With the 60s?
The show was sprightly and pretty vacuous, it was like The
Monkees to the Beatles. The sense of optimism hit the mark better. But the 60s were not just about being a pretty face, it was not just
about sex, drugs and rock and roll, remember? Vietnam War protests. Women’s
Lib. Civil Rights movements. An interest in other cultures. Non violence. Tolerance. Change.
Imagination. The only part where this was alluded to, aside from the homosexual
couples, was the interpretation of the song A Day In The Life aka “I heard the
news today”. The choreography nailed the feeling of the song, the music
supporting beautifully with the use of the theremin: a bit sad, a bit sloppy,
and a bit political. The Beatles! How I wish the rest of the show had been in
tune, a contemporary dance show offering us an interpretation of that genius
album.
The musicians were great. The dancers were great. They’re all shapes and forms, that’s
cool. One was pregnant! How about that?! A woman, I think.
Mark Morris bypassed Lucy In The Sky with Diamonds for this show. HOW
ABOUT THAT?! I couldn’t believe it. But I respect that choice, it is an obvious
iconic song to exploit, though the choreographer of the superlatively fun Nutcracker
ballet is usually not too worried about subtlety.
written and published by - - Arabella von Arx
