Layla and Majnun, Mark Morris Dance Group and Silkroad Ensemble, Melbourne International Arts Festival, State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Saturday October 13th 2018

Layla and Majnun, Mark Morris Dance Group and Silkroad Ensemble, Melbourne International Arts Festival, State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Saturday October 13th 2018

"Layla and Majnun", Mark Morris Dance Group and Silkroad Ensemble, Melbourne International Arts Festival, State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, Saturday October 13th 2018.

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

Wow, I was so impressed by two ushers who were distributing programmes prior to the show at about 7.30 pm.  This is what should happen with every festival production - allow the patrons to read the programme prior to entry to the theatre.  Well done to the two usherettes.

The programme has extensive production notes, libretto, and, cast and crew biographies.  I wish the other Melbourne International Arts Festival programmes had this quality and amount of detail.

Congratulations are also so well deserved to the two usherettes in the front stalls who asked patrons on three occasions to turn off their phones and/or stop recording or taking photographs.  Well done ladies - this must happen more to reduce the feral and ignorant people who disturb other patrons.  We do not pay to go to the theatre to be disturbed by your rudeness.

I repeat my mantra: P-TOOL = Please Turn Off, Or Leave!

The Silkroad Ensemble is located centrally, as if in an orchestra pit, surrounded by the raised stages.  Behind them, and centre upstage, are three or four steps where four musicians play on either side of this entrance.  Two other musicians are centre downstage, with the two singers sitting on a raised platform.  There are two entrances upstage and two from the wings downstage. 

"Layla and Majnun" is a wonderful collaborative work between Mark Morris and the Silkroad Ensemble.  He uses dancers from many different racial backgrounds that highlights that "love is love" and occurs across every culture.  Mixing up the pairs with different racial backgrounds brought up the theme of apartheid and racial vilification, and coincidentally becomes a great companion piece to "Madiba The Musical" currently playing in Melbourne.  "Layla and Majnun" is also a great companion piece to "Fire Gardens" with the use of the lanterns and the image of fire. 

Mark Morris is a genius choreographer as he developed the passion of the story to the point where we think we know the ending.  The death scene was so simple and such a shock as the two dancers fell back into the arms of other dancers.  The finale was sublime in its simplicity.

Each act had a separate pair playing the parts of Layla and Majnun.  In the final Act V "The Lover's Demise",  Mark Morris choreographs using the four pairs of dancers as if they are one person.  We are witnessing the different aspects of their journey and back-story coming together for their final demise.

The choreography is simple at times and extremely aerobic.  These dancers are exceptionally fit as I only noticed them breathing in the final Act V.  The choreography pays homage to folk, national and historical dance.  There are cultural gestures and movements that I recognised from having seen many international dance companies perform.  We witness so many various emotions by Layla and Majnun, and the parents, that use lyrical and gestural movements. Occasionally we see crisp and sharp moves that accentuate a moment.  The moments of suspension soar emotionally with passion, particularly in the moments of potential separation - as in Layla and Majnun holding a reaching move.

The turning sequences reminded my partner and I of the Whirling Dervishes at times.  There were phrases of open arms, and heels and heads turning.  The other ten dancers were positioned on the side raised stages.  There was a sequence of heel extended forward, then crossed over the other leg and sideways turning of the heads as if a clown from Luna Park.  This sequence was repeated and framed the action of Layla and Majnun.  The quiet repetition built the tension as if a groundswell of disapproval from the outside.

There was a section where the ladies lay along the front of the stage and held poses for an extended period of time.  The first lady held the pose the longest, and she must have a core-of -steel to be leaning back with her left arm curved upwards in epaulment.

The synchronisation of the dancers was superb.  Their footwork was clean and their port de bras sliced the air with passion.  Dallas McMurray had a playfulness and innocence as he introduced us to Majnun with his fresh quality moves.  The second Majnun, Domingo Estrada Jr produced a develope to arabesque that nearly took my breath away.  His arabesque was like a sword piercing the space.  The third male Aaron Loux had the most exquisite arabesque derriere that took my breath away.  His footwork was so precise.  Sam Black in Act IV had ethereal and suspended ballon.

The women were also exceptional with their graceful moves and sweeping port de bras.  The way the ladies danced using their long dresses as an extension of their bodies paid homage to Martha Graham's choreography.  The ladies were precise and performed so many different qualities of movement in each act.  But it was the men who took my breath away originally with the precise and specific footwork. 

Act 11 began after the lights were dimmed at the end of Act 1.  The audience laughed as the lights rose to reveal a triangular formation of the two sets of parents and others upstage on the central raised stage.  The group all had their arms crossed and this one simple gesture spoke volumes for their disapproval of Layla and Majnun's relationship.  Interestingly, this was the only humour in the entire show, and heightened the gravitas of their situation.

Act V "The Lover's Demise" included a reunion in the afterlife for the four pairs of Layla and Majnun.   I thought that each pair would replicate the first duo.  Thankfully, not to be.  This was such a welcome surprise that piqued my interest, and the emotional connection even more.  As each pair were briefly reunited they used a different action before they were separated again, and exited to opposite sides of the stage.  One pair touched hands, another held each other's face, while another touched the side of their head.   The final pair reached with outstretched arms until they drawn apart.  Each pair reminded me of variations of John Cranko's signature heart pose for "Romeo and Juliet" as they enter for one of their pas de deux from either side of the stage.

The final section had many patrons questioning if they were hearing right.  Yes the humming was from the Silkroad Ensemble and was exquisitely gentle and moving.  The two mothers entered to retrieve the lamps from upstage that had been passed along to each dancer at the start of the first dance section.  Upstage centre, the mothers intertwined their arms holding the lamps.  They held out the opposite hand and swapped their lamps into open palms.  Slowly they moved to either side of downstage, and each mother covered the lamp to extinguish the flame of love.  My heart leapt with love, and tears welled in my eyes.

What a masterpiece of theatrical passion.  The lanterns lit my fire of passion for Mark Morris Dance Group and Silkroad Ensemble.

Mark Morris joined the entire cast of performers and I just had to cheer him.  Thank you.

"Layla and Majnun" obtained a well deserved 9/10.

I wrote the following on Facebook:

Wow!  Thank you Mark Morris Dance Group for "Layla and Majnun" for sublime dance.  I do not know where the Melbourne dance community was hiding but they certainly missed a great work.  The ending was simple and effective, and even when we know the classic story made famous in "Romeo and Juliet", the final moment brought the emotional finality to reality.