To be taken on sizzling, tortuous, joyous, exhausting journeys of the soul by a new, powerfully inventive programme of music and dance is quite something! Once again Opera North weaves magic into staging a unique, exhilarating artistic work, created and performed in partnership with diverse artistic groups. Sensational!
Revered masterpiece of the Western classical cannon, the mighty Mozart Requiem, is here performed in tandem with the world premiere of a brand new composition, After Tears: After a Requiem by Neo Muyanga. Written in response to Mozart’s work and in response to the recent pandemic, this invokes South Africa’s cultural traditions regarding loss, mourning, remembrance and, above all, the celebration of life. The two pieces work in heavenly balance and contrast yet also form a most spectacular, amazingly integrated whole, thanks to contemporary dance groups Phoenix Dance Theatre (from Leeds) and Jazzart Dance Theatre (from Cape Town) who pour every last bit of heart, soul, energy and utmost emotion into breathtaking, unflagging performances throughout both works. To perfect a oneness of performance, the soloists and entire chorus of Opera North are also exquisitely choreographed by Dane Hurst to integrate into the non-stop ebb and flow of movement and emotions of the dancers and music.
Mozart’s Requiem, of course, truly is a requiem to die for (and Mozart, did die at just 34 before he could finish the work, leaving composer friend Franz Sussmayer to fill in the gaps.) Like Munch’s Scream, the exquisite music penetrates the soul as it wrings its hands and heart in devastated lament and tortured despair, longing for the soothing balm of eternal rest and peace. Before the first rich, creeping, soul-arresting notes sound, grey, agonised souls crawl across the stage, and from then on, Mozart, orchestra, singers and dancers become one.
With every part of their beings the nine young dancers (alternating with other members on other nights) express the tortured agony and anguish of loss and death and the terror of judgment. In super-supple flow and sway their relentless energy pours back and forth across the stage as they crouch, arch, bend, roll and enfold in swift, endless surges and successions; as they fall, cast themselves down, spin about and rise back up; as they writhe and suffer, link and join, halt and break away, plead for mercy, lift others on high or touch them in loving caress. Especially powerful and affecting is the solo dance conveying the overwhelming agony and ecstasy of the beautiful Lacrimosa, in which the dancer, shaken to the core, is finally overcome in a shuddering dance of intense, convulsive sobbing. Powerfully moving.
Occasionally, long, jagged, shrapnel-like stalactites, like, perhaps, broken pieces of the cross, descend toward the largely dark, subtly lit stage as chorus and soloists, darkly clad and singing from memory, gently blend and interact in the “flux perpetua” of dancing, wretched souls. In choreographed sequences the singers reconfigure in new shapes or perform waves of integrated gestures and movements that magnify mood and impact. At times all this intense movement can seem too full-on busy, making it unclear exactly what’s being enacted, but overall the impact is simply stunning. More delight stems from the delicious voices of bass Simon Shibambu and magnificent tenor Mongezi Mosoaka from South Africa, and sparkling soprano Ellie Laugharne and alto Ann Taylor from Britain.
With agony and anguish pouring forth in generous abundance during the Requiem and little on offer regarding rest and eternal peace, the audience, though thrilled to the core, is left totally drained and exhausted. The dancers, of course, have expended enough energy to fuel a small town and poured out enough sweat to quench the fires of … a very hot place indeed.
Neo Muyanga’s shorter companion composition, then, is all the more welcome for having brightness, colour, uplift and overwhelming joy, joy, joy burst upon the stage. A diversity of wonderfully exhilarating elements adorn this eclectic composition, written in collaboration with the dance companies.
Full chorus (this time with scores), all dancers from both groups and a smaller Opera North orchestra come together in a piece that creates exciting, beautiful sequences, especially from the likes of marimba, drums, timpani, orchestral hand-claps and melodic woodwind combinations, while a pleasing choral score speaks of Nature’s cycles of life. Soothing, mesmerising chimes and recorded song are in the mix, too, and special impact comes from periods of orchestral silence when spoken words and chants take over during calmer, quieter onstage rituals that offer thanks and request strength and guidance, sometimes with language clicks, mesmerising repetitions, rhythmic clapping or whistles and whoops.
The piece particularly references relatively new South African traditions of folk, usually youthful, who gather to celebrate the deceased with loud, vibrant dance music and outward merriment, overcoming the pain of loss in a collective, positive act of joy and hope. The dancers, no longer in subdued grey/blue/fawn tones, wear bright robes of pink and purple or sport glistening bare torsos and, with a video backdrop of coloured shapes like fragments of bone, wood or plastic, singers and dancers again create an integrated performance. As well as suppler swayings and lifts, the dancers this time perform traditional, more positive, powerful, assertive wide-legged stampings and stompings. As the faces of the splendid singers and dancers become ever more radiant with smiles, the mood, by the end, is breathtakingly ecstatic.
A phenomenal, all-absorbing performance from start to finish, full of great musical and artistic beauty.
Eileen Caiger Gray.
