The world premiere of Gabriel Prokofiev’s new ballet for Rambert Dance and Shobana Jeyasingh, Terra Incognita has been launched to great acclaim at Sadler’s Wells, London with seven performances in five days.
Commissioned by Rambert Dance the piece is scored for ten string instruments and electronics. Terra Incognita was Jeyasingh’s first ballet for Rambert and also the first time that her choreography had been performed at Sadler’s Wells. The Rambert Orchestra was conducted in all performances by Paul Hoskins.
The production next travels to Edinburgh, for performances from 27-29 November. It will also be revived by Rambert in March 2015, with dates in Mold and Inverness.
‘…All of this buoyed up by the scintillating commissioned score for strings and electronics by Gabriel Prokofiev…’
The Times (Donald Hutera), 20 November 2014
‘It starts rather magically with the women on one side of the stage, folded like strange monsters, while the male dancers – in kilts again – preen and prance on the other. The movement is sharp and spiky, but softened by balletic arms; it runs interestingly against the rhythmic crunchiness of Gabriel Prokofiev’s score.’
The Telegraph (Sarah Crompton), 19 November 2014
‘Terra Incognita is not only an asset to the repertory, it’s one of her own best works, set to a score by Gabriel Prokofiev… As 10 dancers traverse the stage, the accompanying sounds of high strings and chugging beats and the eerie overlay of rattles and whistles are all strikingly evocative of alien spaces and human determination.’
The Guardian (Judith Mackrell), 19 November 2014
‘…incredibly tricky stuff and the dancers are more than impressive…her dancers move through different configurations and moods, movement and stasis, individual quests and group effort, playing with texture (as does Gabriel Prokofiev’s strings-and-electronics score), their measured movement inflected with motifs of Indian dance in detailed hand shapes. It’s a quality piece, if not her most striking work.’
The Evening Standard (Lyndsey Winship), 19 November 2014