‘Sweet Mambo’ is the penultimate piece choreographed by Pina Bausch before her death in 2009. It is now receiving its premiere at Sadler’s Wells, with seven of the original nine dancers still in the cast. Their continued presence is a remarkable tribute both to their stamina and to the lasting appeal of Bausch’s choreography. Sadler’s Wells has now staged twenty-one of her twenty-two works. Mounting the production at this venue posed particular technical difficulties, notably the recreation of the wind-blown curtain design by Peter Pabst. For the most part, the result justifies the wait. The vast swathes of fabric dominate the stage, generating striking visual effects that at times overshadow the movement which frequently seems more like performance art than dance theatre. In 'Sweet Mambo', Bausch draws on the meta tropes prevalent at the time in which the work was made. Performers address the audience directly and dissolve the fourth wall by stepping into the auditorium. Once radical, such self-referential strategies now risk appearing dated, as do the video projections, whose relationship to the action is not always clear. There is also considerable repetition of motifs and choreographic ideas, which do not succeed in unifying a series of vignettes that often seem somewhat random. The comic episodes similarly feel tired, rarely achieving their intended effect. By contrast, Marion Cito’s costumes possess a fluid elegance that harmonises beautifully with the billowing set and nicely complements the rhythmic posing and attitudes struck by the dancers. ‘Sweet Mambo’ may not rank among Bausch’s most compelling creations, but for those interested in her arc of development as an artist, it represents a fascinating coda to her career.
Rated: ★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Karl-Heinz Krauskopf
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