FACT FILE
Choreographer: Wayne McGregor
Performed by: The Royal Ballet
Premiered on: 13 November 2008 at the Royal Opera House, London.
Dancers: 12 dancers (6 male / 6 female) (Brief appearance of a crowd who cross the stage)
Duration: 28 minutes
Performance space: Proscenium arch/theatrical setting
Dance style: contemporary ballet
Accompaniment: Music by Max Richter and sound design by Chris Ekers.
Wayne McGregor was appointed Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet in 2006, becoming the first contemporary choreographer to hold the post. He has created many works for the company such as Chroma (2006), Limen (2009), Raven Girl (2013) and Woolf Works (2015). How has ballet movement influenced McGregor’s choreography here? His interest in cross-discipline collaboration has seen him work across dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science. How has his interest in cross-discipline work influenced this piece?
The Royal Ballet formed in 1931. Under the leadership of Kevin O’Hare, the company’s repertory includes works by Ashton and MacMillan as well as a new canon of work by McGregor. The company is based in London’s Covent Garden, the dancers perform with with an orchestra and leading choreographers, composers, conductors, designers and creative teams to create phenomenal pieces.
McGregor’s style is known for its speed and energetic, angular movements that push the dancers to physical extremes.
McGregor uses three methods to generate movement for the piece:
1. He SHOWED a phrase to all or some of the dancers who watched and tried to repeat the phrase or do their own version of it.
2. He MADE a phrase on a specific dancer or dancers – other dancers watch to try and copy or develop/change the phrase.
3. He set a choreographic TASK for dancers to work on or he set a choreographic problem for dancers to solve. Usually the task or issue would involve imagery as a stimulus for creating movement. The movement is then structured into longer “phrases. Lastly he works musically with the structure and pieces it all together like a jigsaw.
How could working in this way influence the movement in Infra?
The title Infra comes from the Latin word for 'below' and the piece represents life beneath the surface of the city. This abstract ballet presents a look into human interactions.
Infra is about seeing below the surface of things. This can be seen as the dancers are performing below Julian Opie’s design of pedestrians walking. What other pedestrian movements can be seen in Infra?
The piece implies types of relationships and so the emotional content is clear. McGregor allows the audience to make their own decisions about what to watch on stage.
The ballet comprises solos, duets and ensembles with many striking moments, for example 6 couples dance duets in six squares of light and a crowd surges across the stage, unaware of one woman’s grief. How could this impact the audience?
The score mixes sad string tunes with electronic sounds and everyday sounds such as train-whistles.
The lighting, which relates closely to the structure, lights the width of the stage and often focuses downstage. Sometimes dancers are lit by shafts of light and at one point 6 rectangles of light frame 6 duets. Colours are used to highlight different sections. Lucy Carter designed the lighting and has built a strong creative partnership with McGregor.