Schedule for Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui "Sutra" Ballet in one act 2022


Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra "Congress"

Loosely translated, ’sutra’ means ”link” and there are so many entwined connections in the creative evolution and performance of ‘Sutra’as to make a very long chain. To begin with, there is, of course, the meeting of concepts; the choreography of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, the designs of Antony Gormley, the live modern music composition of Szymon Brzуska and the way of life for the monks from the Shaolin Temple; there is the connection between east and west, in a fusion of the European contemporary dance influences of Cherkaoui and his Assistant, Ali Ben Lofti Thabet, with the 1,500 year-old culture of the Shaolin martial arts; and then, there is the contrary-wise connection between the monks’ fighting skills and the fundamental prohibition of violence within their Buddhist faith.

Antony Gormley’s 6’ high wooden boxes are as integral to the work as any human performer, becoming platforms, hiding places and even miniscule performance spaces: they’re used to resemble coffins – the obvious and easy analogy; giant pieces of smooth Lego; petals of a large wooden flower; and - when stacked together in end-to-end rows of 4x4 boxes - even an apothecary’s specimen cabinet or the bedroom pods of a Japanese budget hotel. An architect friend of mine told me that he resolved a building design problem mid-way through a performance of ‘Sutra’, giving practical resonance to a further link between architecture and dance in the interaction of performers, wooden building blocks and the plain-walled performance space.

The two most intrinsic links within the performance itself are the relationship between the European ”outsider”, a role created by Cherkaoui and here played by Thabet, and his ”guide”, a young Shaolin boy (She Yanzhi); and paralleling this human relationship is another between the wooden boxes and miniature models thereof which Thabet and Yanzhi initially manipulate to dictate the placement of the human-sized crates. At the very beginning they sit, cross-legged, on top of Thabet’s distinctive steel-grey box – which sets him apart as the non-Shaolin outsider - as if contemplating a game of chess, but actually pondering the configuration of the miniature plan.