RICHARD Alston dance company has arrived at the Lowry with the performance of ‘An Italian in Madrid’, coreographed by Alston himself.
As Alston is known for his unique and disciplined musicality we knew were in for a treat. “An Italian In Madrid,” consisted of ten dancers Ihsaan de Banya, James Muller, Nancy Nerantzi, Elly Braund, Ohana Vesga Busan, Jennifer Hayes, Monique Jonas, Nicholas Shikkis and Liam Riddick and a pianist, Jason Ridgway.
There were two main scenes in the performance. The first portraying Naples and the second portraying Lisbon.
The story of ‘An Italian in Madrid’ is about Scarlatti, the ‘Italian’ in the title.
In scene one Naples was the main influence because it was showing the story of Scarlatti and how we left to go to Lisbon to see the princess.
He leaves not only to see the princess but to teach her as she was very talent yet serious about music.
Celebrate #ValentinesDay in the perfect way – by watching the stunning performance of 'An Italian in Madrid' https://t.co/5LzaVbgbwZ pic.twitter.com/QCmatTveaf
— The Lowry (@The_Lowry) February 10, 2017
In scene too the main influence was Lisbon because as the story went on this portrayed the prince arriving in Lisbon to meet the princess, however he was greeted by Prince Ferdinand seeking her hand.
As the prince takes his bride to Spain the princess demands that Scarlatti comes too.
In spain Scarlatti was exposed to numerous amounts of the vigour and passion of popular Andalusian music.
And that was how the music was born.
As the curtain went up, the audience were greeted with a bare stage. The only prop was a single, black piano, which the pianist played throughout.
The first section opened with a duet. The male was wearing mustard coloured pants with embroidery detail on the side and a white shirt with ruffle front detail.
The women was wearing a beige coloured knee length dress with detail on the back.
All of the costumes within the dance were the same but differed in colours for the women and had different neck lines to show different identities.
It differed in the men with different embroidery designs on the side of the pants which again show their different identities.
After the last interval the third and final section started. As the curtains went up the audience again were greeted with a bare stage but this time the piano wasn’t present
At the end of every section the dancers would hold hands, come forward and bow. In the second and third section the dancers come together, hold hands and bow but would also include the pianist in this.
The show overall was very emotive you could tell the emotions the dancers had towards each other within the charters they were playing.
The storyline was clear throughout the dance and easy to follow.
You could easily see the dynamic and structured linear movements and actions which are in the style of Richard Alston.
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