Nederlands Dans Theatre 1

I went to see this contemporary dance company last week with a couple of friends. I've been wanting to see them for a few years, as they were supposed to be in town a few years ago but had to cancel due to the economy. This company is one of the top contemporary dance companies in the world, working with the most interesting contemporary choreographers, who create dances especially for them. For this visit they did a piece by Crystal Pite and one by Lightfoot & Leon. The Pite piece had some beautiful sections but I didn't feel like all of it hung together. The piece starts with a mannequin (like the kind of models that artists use) manipulated by the corps of dancers. The best section of this piece was near the end when a dancer replaces the mannequin and the other dancers appear to be echoing her movements. The second piece by Lightfoot & Leon was stunning, danced to Phillip Glass, whose music is always gorgeous to dance to (although I don't much like listening to it for its own sake). The piece uses video projection, stage manipulation and a beautiful effect with a black fabric. Since some of the men were bare chested, rather than wearing suits, you could see their bodies much better and you could see how beautiful their movement quality is, how elongated and stretched they are. They are also incredibly strong, hitting their positions precisely and with no extraneous and unnecessary movement. Watching them made me wish there was a way for me to dance with them.