Mark Baldwin’s The Comedy of Change – Rambert Dance Company

Having received an Olivier Award nomination for the creation of Constant Speed in 2005, Mark Baldwin, Rambert’s Artistic Director, returns to the world of science to create his third major work for Rambert Dance Company.

Created to commemorate Charles Darwin Year in 2009, Mark Baldwin’s The Comedy of Change set sail from Plymouth, where Darwin himself launched his maiden voyage back in 1831. With critics and audiences united in their praise for Rambert’s Autumn Season ’09, Baldwin and his world-class Rambert Dance Company prepare to take you on a journey of discovery with the Scottish première of The Comedy of Change at Theatre Royal, Glasgow.

As with the Russian impresario Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes 100 years ago, Mark Baldwin predicates his creative choices around collaborations between choreographers, composers and artists. Kick-started by Stephen Keynes, Darwin’s great-grandson and long-standing friend of Baldwin, The Comedy of Change includes a specially commissioned score by renowned British composer Julian Anderson, with production design by the multifaceted French-Algerian artist, Kader Attia.

Julian Anderson (Composer) has a natural connection with Darwin via his father Professor E S Anderson who was a celebrated micro-biologist and Fellow of the Royal Society. Darwin’s theory is at the very root of the inspiration for this project – which is that all things change. The Comedy of Change is Anderson’s third ballet with Mark Baldwin, The Bird Sings with its Fingers being the winner of the South Bank Show Award for the best New Dance Work of 2001, whilst Towards Poetry was part of a 1999 Royal Ballet tour. A strong interest in devising new forms of melody informs all his work. Influences are folk music of Eastern Europe and Russia, Stravinsky, and the French spectralists, and his mentors have included Alexander Goehr, Messiaen, Ligeti and Oliver Knussen (a particular champion of his music). Since 2002 he has run the Philharmonia’s Music of Today series and he has been Composer in Residence at the CBSO as well as more recently the Cleveland Orchestra. His recordings have won prizes – most recently the Gramophone Award in 2007. He is about to embark on an opera for English National Opera.

Kader Attia (Production Designer) born in Algeria, raised in Paris, and now based in Berlin, Kader Attia is an artist who works in many mediums but focuses primarily on the difficulty of being an outsider in a politically and socially charged environment. His fascination with notions of survival and tenacity manifest themselves through contradiction. Absolute positive against negative – white as opposed to black – Muslim as opposed to Jewish. Reflective materials frequently appear in his work – demanding the viewer judge from their own standpoint first. He forces the viewer to think again about alternating approaches to situations of survival and faith. Spring ’09 saw Attia’s Ghost instillation exhibited at London’s Saatchi Gallery.

Professor Nicky Clayton (Scientific Advisor) is a fellow of Clare College and in 2005 became the youngest female professor ever appointed at Cambridge University. Nicky has always been fascinated by birds – by their glamour and elegance, their movement and rituals, their melodies and labours. Her studies focus on members of the crow family, including jackdaws, rooks and jays, challenging common-held assumptions that only humans can plan for the future and reminisce about the past. Her work has led to a radical re-evaluation of animal cognition and the evolution of cognition. Nicky’s expertise has proven an invaluable source of inspiration for The Comedy of Change creative team.

‘A large part of my life is spent dancing – ballet, jazz and particularly Latin dance like salsa and tango. Of course, birds dance too: I have a favourite video clip that I show my students of the Swallow-tailed Manakin – it’s the avian equivalent of tango and, not surprisingly, these birds are found in Argentina!’ Professor Nicky Clayton – Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge

PAST and FUTURE, SAME but DIFFERENT, REVEAL and CONCEAL. Combining the fascinating and exuberant worlds of evolution and dance, Mark Baldwin creates The Comedy of Change, a vigorous and beautiful new work. Courtship dances, display and nature’s use of camouflage are all enhanced with music and design by some of the best contemporary artists.

In addition to Mark Baldwin’s The Comedy of Change, Rambert will perform the following repertoire as part of its Comedy of Change Tour 2010: Hush by Christopher Bruce, The Art of Touch by Siobhan Davies, A Linha Curva by Itzik Galili, Tread Softly by Henri Oguike, RainForest by Merce Cunningham, Don’t think about it by Rambert dancer Miguel Altunaga and Dutiful Ducks by Richard Alston.

Visit www.rambert.org.uk

Rambert Dance Company – The Comedy of Change
King’s Theatre & Theatre Royal, Glasgow
Thu 11 – Sat 13 Feb
Thu – Sat eves 7.30pm
Pre – show talk Fri 12 Feb 6.30pm
Tickets: £10 – £21
Box Office: 08448 717 647 (bkg fee)
www.ambassadotrickets/glasgow (bkg fee)

Images © Eric Richmond

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