Sutra
St James Theatre 2, Wellington
26/02/2010 - 06/03/2010
New Zealand International Arts Festival 2010
Production Details
A Journey through Faith and Imagination
“This unique, profoundly imagined show takes the concept of cultural exchange to a whole new level…”The Guardian
Direct from the original Shaolin Temple in China, Saholin warrior monks perform the breathtaking dance work Sutra by of one of Europe’s most exciting choreographer-dancers, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, in its only Australasian performances at the New Zealand International Arts Festival next year.
Produced by the UK’s leading dance theatre Sadler’s Wells, Sutra has had two sellout seasons in London since it opened in May 2008. Cherkaoui spent several months living and working with the Buddhist monks in the Shaolin Temple near Dengfeng City in the Henan Province of China.
Cherkaoui is the winner of the Ballet Tanz Outstanding Choreographer of the Year in 2008 and the Kairos European Cultural Prize this year "because he raises fundamental questions about human existence through movement and because of the connections he makes between elements of different cultures."
Sutra is inspired by the monks’ skill, strength and spirituality, and Cherkaoui follows his life-long exploration of the philosophy and faith behind the Shaolin tradition, its relationship with Kung-Fu, and its position within a contemporary context. The 20 Shaolin monks performing in Sutra follow a strict Buddhist doctrine. Kung Fu and Tai Chi martial arts are an integral part of their daily regime.
Cherkaoui has collaborated closely with Turner Prize-winning artist Antony Gormley, whose stark set design consists of 21 wooden boxes that continually reconfigure throughout the performance, becoming solemn pillars, a vast ocean, a maze, stacked dormitory beds or the opening petals of a lotus flower.
Sutra is set to an original score by Polish composer Szymon Brzüska that is played live during the performance with piano, percussion and strings.
“Immediately following its Australasian premiere at the New Zealand International Arts Festival, Sutra will head back to London for its third season at London’s Dance House, Sadler’s Wells. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to host such an extraordinary work which juxtaposes the explosive release of martial arts with the spiritual stillness of the Shaolin tradition,” says Lissa Twomey, Artistic Director for the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
Sutra is sponsored by Hawkins Construction with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation and The Southern Trust.
Gold Partners: New Zealand Post Group, TV3, Clemenger BBDO, Pacific Blue. Funders: Absolutely Positively Wellington, Creative New Zealand
“Impossible to resist … astounding” Le Monde
WHEN: 26-28 February, 1-6 March (no show 2 March), 8pm
WHERE: St James Theatre
1hr
Everybody was kung-fu dancing
Review by Jennifer Shennan 07th Mar 2010
The choreography is dramatically integrated with a stunning set designed by renowned English sculptor Antony Gormley. Many boxes, 6 x 2, are variously used as shelter, hiding place, bed, trap, encumbrance, burden, pillar of strength, weapon of power, coffin, defining place and home.
The evocative score by Polish composer Szymon Brzoska, is played superbly by a band of musicians suspended high in the shadows above and behind the stage. Their chorus-like musical commentary gives courage and solace, and my only cavil in the spellbinding hour would be for more light for us to glimpse these creatures from their far-away place.
The choreographer, Sidi Labi Cherkaoui, has explored a Chinese community of Buddhist Shaolin monks in the rigours of their martial arts training, and set an outsider amongst them. The result is profound – with martial arts group practice liberated, in contrast to the moves of an individual, played by Cherkaoui himself, searching for enlightenment. He also slyly plays you and me when for a few minutes he leaves the stage to sit amongst the audience.
There are touches of humour, and endearing occasions when we feel empathy for the outsider’s predicaments. But there’s no hint of anything mawkish here. The astonishing vigour of the martial artists would wake us from any such day-dreaming – and their taut but poetic sequence of Tai Chi near the end is most serene and beautiful.
Cherkaoui’s work, Foi, was already seen here with Ballets C de la B at a previous festival, but my colleagues can only recall the superb musicians, Capilla Flamenca, who were part of that edgy and challenging work. Sutra is sub-titled ‘A Journey Through Faith and Imagination’ and will surely be long remembered as a triumph.
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A generous gift for our enlightenment
Review by Lyne Pringle 27th Feb 2010
A gentle magnetism draws the viewer along a silver thread, into this theatre of the heart. Its tone, pace and visual impact are muted at first; I am not immediately engaged and find myself questioning the choreographer’s right to present yet again a western ‘other’ view of an intricate and ancient Asian art.
Sid Larbi Cherkaoui created the work Sutra after studying for several months with the monks of the original
Cherkaoui is one of the leading contemporary dancers of his generation and he has held a lifelong passion for this syle of Kung Fu. His commitment and passion for dance reflects the lifelong aim of the monks to master the physical challenges of the forms.
And yet in this context Cherkaoui is a new kid on the block: thankfully his ‘god like’ persona is soon challenged and usurped so that he tumbles into the work as a clown-like seeker, flowing whimsically amidst the ancient movement sutras. Sometimes lost, sometimes found, his status is that of a curious and often confused observer. At one point he is tipped right out of the proscenium frame into the audience, the last in a line of enormous dominoes.
The work unfolds and I watch intrigued, as the tensions between the contemporary gaze and ancient wisdom are played out. Before long it is clear that Cherkaoui is supremely conscious of the tenuous ground he treads upon. This is no razzamatazz show case of spectacular Kung Fu moves.
As he plays with bricks and mesmerises a young boy with his hand movements, we are inside the creative mind of the choreographer, with his large sized wooden boxes and 17 monks dressed in traditional gray costumes as his playthings; micro and macro manifestations of the artistic challenges for him.
One warrior withdraws a sword from the top of the boxes to set the mythic journey on its way. The boxes are designed by Turner award winning artist, Anthony Gormley; they are used throughout to form a multitude of sceneographies that enhance and propel the movement of bodies in space, giving the performance texture and narrative.
Cherkaoui choreographs these with supreme confidence, the forms and structures of the sutras or scenes are flawless as the space is sculpted. One moment a lake, the next platforms, a lone boat in the ocean, a crypt, insects, a lotus flower, city scapes and coffins … The images tumble to immerse and transport the viewer.
Musicians are suspended, just visible, behind a white gauze as they play Szymon Brzoska’s highly sympathetic score for piano, percussion and strings. There is great sensitivity between the play of the aural and the visual. At one point a monk moves elaborately and stridently around the stage with the music in melancholic counterpoint, giving an exquisite sense of tender rigour.
There is tension between the human forms and the boxes as they are moved; no effort is made to disguise their clumsiness and functionality. We watch patiently as the next sutra is set up and placed before us to decipher and unravel the jewel in the aphorism.
At times it is like watching creatures that are part human, part animal or insects; a swirling whirl of nature: tiger, crane, snake, wind, rain, lightning, mixed in with joy, rage, greed and jealousy to manifest outrageous movement patterns. As they hurtle through the air, slam into the floor, twist in a impossible ways, I am holding my breath, sitting forward on my seat and can hardly contain myself.
Rolling canons of exquisite Tai Chi forms make me swoon. An extended fight sequence has me writhing on my own battle field … Then they pause and the movement reverberates, as subtle as a zephyr on a February evening, or ripples on an oily ocean.
The monks are the true stars of the evening, bringing a rare ‘realness’ to the stage. This is not a performance, this is a ritual to fully realise the glorious potential of the human form and to celebrate its place in the midst of the natural world.
Cherkaoui knows this as he disappears amongst them in the final movement. These generous bodhisattvas offer themselves for our enlightenment! My heart chakra begins to vibrate ten minutes before the end and there are tears of gratitude on my cheeks as we applaud and stamp our feet. GO!
"Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all hail!"
*(Chan Buddhism holds that the world is an illusion conjured up by each individual’s mind, that every thought has the power to produce a retributive future result (karma). Enlightenment occurs when we understand this.)
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For more production details, click on the title above. Go to Home page to see other Reviews, recent Comments and Forum postings (under Chat Back), and News.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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