Since visiting the International festival in 1999 with a season of Mats Ek's choreography centred on his disturbing Giselle, the Cullberg Ballet comes with "not to miss" stamped all over it. This time, in a double bill, a glimpse of the future is offered alongside past success, as the incoming artistic director, Johan Inger, joins forces with Ek, director until 1993 and son of founder Birgit Cullberg.
There is much the two men share. Both works are dramatically lit, starkly staged and theatrically performed; they concentrate on the psychology of the characters. There is a crossover of movement style: the staccato gesture, the unexpected angle, the neat little groupings that trot dancers round in a flock. There are differences, too. The heart of Inger's choreography beats with a lyrical sweep; Ek takes a tougher stance, keeping his dancers elastic but shaping them with a disjointed beauty.
Home and Home, created by Inger for the company in 2002, begins and ends with a man in a suit and a woman in red. At first she ducks and dives around him; by the end she is hooked on to a wall and left for dead. In between, seven other dancers come in, like ghosts from a dream. Three large, movable boards shape and reshape the stage into a party, a house, hidden spaces. In the strange, sneaky walks taken by the men, a sinister undertow threatens the home.
Fluke by Ek, made in the same year, also explores the complexity of relationships, but the flavour is different. These characters are identified as a community of working people - a sailor, a policeman, a housewife - their relationships crashing, separating, coming together from all angles. A crowd is brought to a halt by a little white cat, which triggers a woman to curl up like a puss, which sets into motion a Chinese circus act. It's a rich, curious picture of life.
Equipped with dancers whose strength and interpretation easily matches the excellence of the choreography, the Cullberg combination can't lose.
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