Christopher Bruce: Shadows Overview

Christopher Bruce: Shadows

• Choreographer: Christopher Bruce, last major choreographer mentored by Marie Rambert. Associate director, associate choreographer and artistic director of Ballet Rambert (1975-1979, 1980, 1994-2002). Known for works like Cruel Garden, Ghost Dances, Berlin Requiem, Swansong, and Rooster. Awarded CBE in 1998, plus other awards for significant contributions to dance and human rights.

• Company: Phoenix Dance Theatre, a leading contemporary dance company in the UK, founded in 1981. It began performing works created within the company and now features diverse programmes by established and emerging choreographers. Artistic director Sharon Watson in 2009.

• First Performance Date: November 26, 2014.

• Dance Style: Bruce's style combines modern dance techniques with elements of classical and contemporary dance styles, labeled "neo-classical". He prefers to work directly with dancers and let them influence the choreography. Movement must fit the dancers and the piece.

• Choreographic Approach: Shadows was conceived with a family unit as a central imagery. The furniture is part of the choreographic process, not merely a set. Influenced by the "anxiety of the music", specifically Arvo Part's Fratres. The piece explores a family dynamic within a historical/cultural context (Eastern Europe implied).

• Stimulus: Arvo Part's Fratres for violin and piano. Bruce's intention in the work is exploring family relationships within a wider context of human suffering and experience.

Shadows: Additional Information

• Choreographic Intention: Bruce's focus is on themes of political/social awareness. The story depicts a family living through hardship and deprivation.

• Dancers: Four, two male and two female.

• Duration: 12 minutes.

• Structure: Semi-narrative.

• Aural Setting: Arvo Part's Fratres, a piece with a continual tempo, broken chords, and diatonic harmony, mirroring the movement. Music is vital to the atmosphere.

• Costume: 1930s/40s-styled, gendered clothing, with oversized jackets and muted colors.

• Lighting: Designed by John B Read. Uses lighting to create intimacy and contrast, suggesting a room and the outside world.

• Performance Environment: Black box theatre; a table, bench, stools, coat stand, and suitcases comprise the set design, presenting hardship of the family.