Coup Fatal, London
Alain Platel has a special gift for choreographing music, with past productions ranging from a celebration of Bach to Because I Sing, a work incorporating London’s amateur choirs. In Coup Fatal he turns to the richly theatrical music of Kinshasa, working with acclaimed Congolese countertenor Serge Kakudji. The traditions of Congolese music are also given a startling geographical twist as composer Fabrizio Cassol blends in music from the European baroque. Added physical expression comes from dancer Romain Guion and set design from the artist Freddy Tsimba.
Sadler’s Wells, EC1, Thu to 6 Jun
Royal Ballet: Mixed Bill, London
Jerome Robbins, one of the great American choreographers of the last century, is still under-represented on the British stage. But here the Royal Ballet pay due homage in a pairing of two of his best-known works. In The Night uses the accompanying Chopin music to draw out raw and expressive dynamics in three couples. There’s more erotic nuance in Afternoon Of A Faun, in which Robbins updates Debussy’s Prélude A L’Après-Midi D’Un Faune to a modern ballet studio. Completing the programme is MacMillan’s Song Of The Earth, a searingly expressive setting of Mahler’s Das Lied Von Der Erde.
Royal Opera House, WC2, Sat, Mon, Thu
