Le Songe de Médée & MC 14/22

Introduction

Performances of two of Angelin Preljocaj`s modern dance works, filmed over three nights in 2004.

`MC14/22` takes its `subtitle` from Mark Chapter 14 v22 (`This is my body`), and examines, in various ways, the male physique and psyche in all its forms. Employing sensuous homo-eroticism, biblical mysticism, and ultimate humiliation and destruction, Preljocaj creates quite a shocking work.

`Le Songe de Médée` is a completely different concept, taking the basic idea of the Greek myth surrounding Jason`s betrayal of Medea and the worst form of revenge a mother could take.

Video

Excellent quality throughout. The lighting design by Patrick Riou is caught brilliantly and there`s no hint of any problems in the darker scenes.

Audio

Again, there are absolutely no problems. The fairly modernist sounds of Mauro Lanza (Médée) and Tedd Zahmal (MC14/22) have all the required immediacy, and the Ensemble Court-Circuit (Short Circuit Ensemble?) plays superbly.

Features

Some rather rambling chats from Preljocaj, Lanza and Briditte Lefèvre (the Director of Dance of the Paris Opera Ballet)only just skim the surface of the why`s and wherefore`s, and don`t really tell us anything more than is in the accompanying booklet.

Subtitles in various languages are available for these `interviews`.

Conclusion

Judging by these two works, Angelin Preljocaj is a fairly major force in modern dance (I hesitate to use the word `ballet`, although I`m sure someone can enlighten me).

MC14/22 contains some highly-charged eroticism and tenderness (notably in the opening scene where a body is washed), yet can move quickly into nightmarish scenes in which humiliation and violence seem just as natural.

Sylvain Groud, a guest-artist for these performances, is lucky to be able to dance well and have an immensely powerful alto voice, but this seems to be his downfall, as any attempt at creating something beautiful is quickly put down in appalling ways.

`Le Songe de Médée` takes the bare-bones of the Greek myth, presenting an ideal family life (2.4 children, endless Summers etc), a straying father, and a mother who kills her two (.4) children as the ultimate act of revenge.

The aforementioned children (Constance Nicolas and Carl van Gotdsenhoven) are fine dancers, taking on the difficult roles to some very dificult music with ease. There is also one of the most erotic pas-de-deux I`ve seen between Jason (Wilfried Romoli) and Créüse (Eleonora Abbagnato - hugely impressive in many ways), and Medée`s final act of desperation is surprisingly well done, considering it involves the violent murder of her two children. There must have been some concern about slamming metal buckets over their heads, but I`m sure it was all taken into consideration.

Despite reservations about the extras, which quite often seem to be afterthoughts unfortunately, this DVD is highly recommended to those with open minds and ears.