Captivating Images and Pure Dance

translation of a review of Mongolian Dances in "NRC handelsblad", published on 15-12-01
by Isabella Lanz

If choreographer Truus Bronkhorst and director Marien Jongewaard had gone into the advertising business they would have been a roaring success. They certainly know how to create captivating and suggestive images.

For example: a dancer stands in a Christ-like crucifixion pose, arms spread wide open. But on his hands are boxing gloves each holding a burning candle. Or: a female dancer with deer antlers expressively holds a hunting rifle above her head whilst balancing femininely on point shoes.
Aggression, violence, war, in short: men's misery, MONGOLIAN DANCES is permeated with and naturally September 11 lingers in the background. Excelling in making expressive images is not the only trump card of this choreochraphic duo. It is also no small feat that they flawlessly fill one and a half hours with a dance theatre which is the combination of dramatic suggestive images and pure dance. The result is an exceptionally coherent choreography in which every movement and every gesture carries a meaning.

The dance aspect of the piece has acquired a more prominent place since Bronkhorst herself does not perform anymore. In MONGOLIAN DANCES as with SOUL, their previous production, it is pure dance that carries it through. This is enriching to see as Bronkhorst shows herself to be a masterful choreographer. By working along the lines of extreme simplicity she knows how to let the beauty of (mainly) classical dance language speak for itself. In this she shows a marked resemblance with Hans van Manen. The specific man/woman chequered formations and the sober cream white décor even remind us of his Grosse Fuge.

Yet, Bronkhorst is neither a copycat not a pure neo-classicist. She loves to use and mix all kinds of techniques and styles; the impulsive draw of breath of modern technique, the earthly urge of African dance or even the fun and playful dance of the disco. A tight framework and lucid clarity dominates the choreography and this nicely counterbalances the weight of the drama. This means that powerlessness and anger each find a good place in the whole, as seen in the brutal rape scene. Also feelings of sorrow, which are humbly shown by the nine dancers as they walk slowly, hand in hand, towards the audience with downcast eyes. Luckily, amidst these serious matters which are supported by Mozart's REQUIEM, there is also room for unspoiled fun, personified by Jacques Laurent Madiba, a very charming dancer from Cameroon. But even his spectacular dance solo ends in a militant pose, in which the white stripes on his legs suddenly seem to change into tremendous war colours. A solo on Strauss'romantic Alpensymfonie -with Marc van Loon in furry white trousers as Noble Prince/ Swan Queen in one- forms the formidable ending, delightfully lachrymose due to its cathartic symbolism but simultaneously sincerely beautiful as tribute to the dancer and the art of dance.

Neither the youthful rebelliousness of their earlier productions nor their indignation about what people do to each other, nor their commitment has disappeared, nor the questioning of our hypocrisy. The tone has changed though. It has become darker and deeper, a fully matured consciousness of what humanity is, and solidarity.

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