Great Danes show sensuality and sincerity

Choreographer Tim Rushton and his dancers from the Danish Dance Theater will show Beijing audiences their unique understanding of modern dance at the PLA Theater this weekend.

"I aim to give my audience lasting emotional experiences. As we get more and more open-minded towards abstract art, we are able to mirror ourselves in perceptions, which are emotionally, physically or aesthetically based, rather than intellectually based," says Rushton, who has been the artistic director of the group since 2001.

Appraised as having "a movement language that is controlled, unhurried and precise" by The Australian newspaper and knowing "how to make things happen" by The New York Times, Rushton has crossed many boundaries of styles and techniques through his close collaboration with dancers of the Danish Dance Theater.

The company's success in reflecting the nuances of human relationships led, the first time, to much admiration in dance and theater circles in Denmark.

Born in 1963 in England, Rushton was educated at The Royal Ballet in London and was an active dancer until the mid-1990s. He ended his career as a dancer at The Royal Danish Ballet in order to focus on choreography and rapidly gained respect as a creator of modern dance.

He has choreographed ensemble pieces as well as solos, lavish productions and simple duets. What could have been a controversial crossover from classical ballet to modern dance has proved to be a fruitful amalgamation, making Rushton one of Scandinavia's leading choreographers.

The Danish Dance Theater's performance in Beijing consists of two works: Kridt (6-8 dancers, 28 minutes) and Animal Park (10 dancers, 50 minutes).

In Kridt (Chalk), based on Peteris Vasks' string quartet Musica Adventus (1996) and biblical text from Ecclesiastes, Rushton and his dancers draw the contour of a man in a split second - balancing between life and death - life passes by: doubt, trust, solidarity, loneliness, encounters that took place and meetings that never materialized.

He normally takes the deliberately chosen music and a defined theme as his starting point when creating a new choreography. This time he has decided to use the varied backgrounds and the many nationalities of the company dancers as a springboard.

Each individual dancer has a specifically defined character to explore, and the performance shows every one's egoistic trip and their own personal idiosyncrasies.

"My hope is always to be able to take the audience with me on a journey - to strike a fundamental note that everyone can relate to. I create strong physical images with sensuality and sincerity," Rushton says.

(China Daily 09/11/2007 page19)