French-Albanian choreographer Angelin Preljocaj makes his return this season with both an inspiring and highly provocative programme of contemporary dance. Considered to be at the forefront of France's leading experimental and contemporary choreographers, Preljocaj enjoys respect on an international basis. Technical genius in the set coupled with strength of physique and movement in the dancers present an ensemble of emotive stage effects. 
     The programme is presented in two partsone, as advertised, danced to Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring'. The other entitledHelikopter - a surprise - kicks off the proceedings. The music for Helikopter was born from a dream of Karlheinz Stockhausen, the musician, and involves a string quartet playing during flight in four helicopters, all following the rhythm of the blades. Preljocaj has taken this obscure musical arrangement and combined it with a simple yet dramatic stage setting. Together, music and setting cleverly provide the illusion that the dancers are moving in a groundswell of noise and wind directly below the path of a helicopter. It is in this imagined and turbulent space that the dancers push and pull against each other and against the techno-like beats of the music, in a piece that lasts 35 minutes. 
     Similar to the way that dance relies to a great extent on music for rhythm and expression, dance in this piece wouldn't work without the set. This is not intended as a criticism, but more to explain how Preljocaj relies on a combination of technical surroundings and expressionism through body movement, to achieve the full effect. 
     The stage floor is permanently covered by a revolving sequence of bright strip-lighting, checkerboard patterns, swirls and numbered gridlines. The real art in this is that the floor also appears to be pressure-sensitive, giving the impression that the dancers are moving in rippling tides each step sending a pool of shock-waves across the stage. This alone is both bizarre and magnificent. When complemented by a mirrored back wall, the effects of which give an aerial or helicopter view of the stage, the full visual is a superb achievement. 
     This piece is a grand example of how sharp and typically jarred movements can remain fluid and somehow graceful. It is clear that every arm reach, writhing compulsively against the machinery of sound, is felt by the dancers from their waist. And what begins with the kick of an acutely flexed foot, can be traced through the body of the dancer to the tilting head. 
     The music nor dance appear to carry a story or offer a sense of resolution. Also, to the untrained eye, there is no apparent sequence to the movement or repetition akin to verse and chorus. But this doesn't matter. The dancers as a group of six, in pairs or singularly demonstrate undulating vigour, relentless in their efforts. This is a showcase of genius in choreography from Preljocaj and in dance from the performers. It is clearly not the work of moment.
And so to Part II and 'The Rite of Spring'. According to Preljocaj, Stravinsky's music carries with it a slowly rising force of desire and controlled panic. And so Preljocaj has developed an act which is dedicated to our biological instincts and the core of our being. Using dance movements which demonstrate provoked desire and the stimulation of the senses, the audience is presented with a 'playground' scene, followed by an orgy of sexual temptation and rejection.
     When the six female dancers walk onto centre-stage and begin by pulling their knickers to their ankles, you wonder whether the intention was to cause a wrinkle of humour in the audience. Perhaps not. Watched intently by six young stallions, it is clear early on what the fate of the girls is likely to be. Inviting attention and initiating a game of cat and mouse, the girls lead a dance that ends in sacrifice. 
     This dance is urgent and frenzied. Sexual awakening is not innocent or nervous. The boys become red-blooded and dangerous and the girls have taken on more than they can handle. Contemporary tumbles, both on foot and lying on grass mounds, see the boys first grappling and then physically pushing for dominance with violent throws. Meanwhile, the girls attempt to crawl back with provocative touch before trying to escape. And like the sexual encounter the dance is portraying, you expect a climax to the piece, and thankfully this is delivered. 
     Ultimately, and true to form, the woman is portrayed as the weaker sex. The culmination is a shocking, and literally naked, mockery of the fresh young victim. Credit to the dancer who bares all in a display that is more fitting of the mainstream Hollywood film genre. 
     Preljocaj's production to 'The Rite of Spring' is, without doubt, compelling. But while the dancers deliver every part as if it were second nature, the contemporary dance moves are not particularly memorable. What makes it gripping is the risk Preljocaj has taken in his raw interpretation of a very real set of emotions.
Jemma Walters