When asked to create a piece for a programme of dance celebrating the centenary year of Benjamin Britten, immediately questions regarding legacy and the impact of inheritance began to cross my mind. Not only the lasting impression and work of Britten himself, but also, and perhaps more apparently, how those questions relate to ourselves and our own set of inherited forms and ideas. Over time we are continually layering and weaving experience, knowledge, and relationships into our life fabric which ultimately becomes the lens through with which we see the world. Classical dance form is recalibrated and expanded, Larry Goves responds and recreates Britten's Nocturnal as Diversions.
These forms are coupled with the themes associated with Britten’s Nocturnal itself. The suggestion of the surreality of night and the effects of insomnia, a half awake dream state, where the subconscious speaks. The place where half-formed forms inhabit. The repetition of relationships, misaligned memories, situations, and the layers of our hopes and fears.
'...fierce invention' - The Guardian
'Constantly changing permutations of number and gender, creating some strikingly beautiful images' - Dance Tabs
Images: Hans Gerritsen