Men in Motion at La Versiliana Festival: classics, premières and surprises

The latest incarnation of Ivan Putrov's Men in Motion comes to Italy's La Versiliana Festival.

Men in Motion was first presented at Sadler's Wells in 2012 and has since been performed with great success in Moscow and at the Ravenna Festival, Italy. This version, first presented in London at the Coliseum in January of this year, devised by Putrov, is an exploration of the history of the male dancer over the last century.

It includes three Nijinsky pieces, including L'après midi d'un faune, Arthur Pita's new creation Volver, Volver for Edward Watson which premièred in London this year, a new piece by Peter Leung called In Duet for Tim Matiakis and Ivan Putrov and – intriguingly – a Swan Lake pas de deux with Watson and Putrov. And before you have time to conjure up a picture of one of them in drag, it's from the Matthew Bourne's version.

The line-up is completed with an extraordinarily talented group of dancers: Andrey Merkuriev, Igor Kolb, Marian Walter, Vadim Muntagirov and (honorary man in motion) Daria Klimentova.

The full programme (below) is a very mixed bag, and even if Putrov has given the concoction a fil rouge, it really is just a great excuse to see a group of wonderful dancers dancing wonderfully. As Putrov said earlier this year,

I want audiences to leave inspired, not scratching themselves in boredom. I may be criticised for compiling a short programme but I am not apologetic. It is essential to have the freedom to create new works even if you don't know how they will turn out.

Saturday 16 August, 21.30
Tickets €25 – €60 from TicketOne or +39 584 265757
Teatro La Versiliana ( viale Morin, 16 – 55045 Marina di Pietrasanta)

Programme

First part

L'après midi d'un faune (Vaslav Nijinskij)
Music Claude Debussy
Daria Klimentova, Igor Kolb

Adagio (Alexey Miroshnichenko)
Music J S Bach
Andrey Merkuriev

Swan Lake pas de deux (Matthew Bourne)
Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Edward Watson, Ivan Putrov

Petrushka (Mikhail Fokin)
Music Igor Stravinsky
Tim Matiakis

Berlin (Ludovic Ondiviela
)
Music Max Richter
Marian Walter

Le Train Bleu (Bronislava Nijinska)
Music Darius Milhaud
Vadim Muntagirov

Second part

Volver, Volver (Arthur Pita)
Music Buika, sound design Frank Moon, prosthetics Jin Ho Kang
Edward Watson

Traveling (Susana B Williams)
Music Meredith Monk
Andrey Merkuriev

Le spectre de la rose (Mikhail Fokin)
Music Carl Maria von Weber
Daria Klimentova, Vadim Muntagirov

Beginning (Vladimir Varnava)
Music Erik Satie
Igor Kolb

Lacrimosa (Guala Pandi)
Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Marian Walter

In Duet (Peter Leung)
Music Steve Reich
Tim Matiakis, Ivan Putrov

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.