Pristine and elegant this pas de deux called “Deja Vu”, is danced by Rani Luther and Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, dance artists of Nederlands Dans Theatre II. The piece is choreographed by Hans Van Manen and the music is composed by Arvo Part called “Frates”.
Hans Van Manen is a Dutch choreographer who has choreographed for both the Nederlands Dans Theatre and Dutch National Ballet. He has choreographed works for various companies internationally including the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.
Van Manen’s work is based in classical ballet blended with other influences such as American Modern Dance (ie. Graham), Balanchine with his non-narrative and short ballets, gymnastics, martial arts and pedestrian movements and gestures.
This video shows aspects of this blend through the stunningly sleek and elegant pas de deux that is based in classical ballet and contemporary movement with wonderful sculptured forms and images The choreography is sparse and economical as the music, with no superfluous movements. To me it is as economical with movement as poetry is with words to create the images
The dancing is stunning to watch. It is clean, pristine, elegant and contained. The duet begins as a primal encounter with the dancers entering the stage unexpectedly backing-up on “all fours” to a startling confrontation. During this section the dancing is so precise I feel as though I am watching a mirror image between them. The duet grows in intensity with lovely lyrical moments only to unwind with the recapitulation of the first primal “stand off” that ends as abruptly and unexpectedly as the beginning. (not shown in this video).
An interesting note about Van Manen is that he is also an accomplished photographer who brings elements of photography to his work, of which I think, this video is a good example. The costumes have a slick appearance and combined with the lighting give the impression of a “moving” crystal clear, tinted, black and white photograph.
This is a beautiful duet which is visually stunning to watch.
Take a look, and enjoy it too!
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