Dancing to music is one thing; music making you move is another. This abstract hour by Benjamin Millepied, in the 10th anniversary year of his LA Dance Project, subtly explores the difference between the two. At times, notes seem to sound directly through the dancers’ bodies, the esoteric instrumentation propelling them to convulse, spin and swoop.
The bulk of the evening is set to selections from Andy Akiho’s intricate concept album Seven Pillars for Sandbox Percussion, played on crotales, marimba, drums, wood blocks and found objects including metal pipes, glass bottles and a cigar box. These pieces are smartly matched to an opening accompanied by Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte. Modelled on a minuet and trio form, it was originally written for quartet and is performed by four female dancers who are practically summoned by the minuet to find their formations before plucked strings launch them into a series of jumps and shimmering kicks, each as gentle as the other. When the formality of the music fractures, their moves become looser, with a sense of questing in their quirkiness.
