#DanceReview Sutra at Sadler’s Wells: The Power of the Box to Frame Action
3 OUT OF 5 STARS
Sutra, which just open at Sadler’s Wells yesterday until the 28th of March, is a collaboration between the visual artist Antony Gormley, famous for the Angel of the North monumental sculpture, and the coreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells and the artistic director at the Royal Ballet of Flanders. It is performed by 19 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China. Although the monks demonstrate a superb physical performance, it seems at some points during the production that the music, exquisitely composed by the Polish composer Szymon Brzóska, and the performers inhabit parallel universes and any other scores would have produced the same movements. Having said that, it is a performance that I highly recommend because it exposes oneself with different cultural narratives. In great need in the current clima.
Gormley, as a briliant visual artist, exploits the power of the box as the perfect framer for action in an nonexistent stage. A set of 21 boxes move around recreating a sense of transition and immutability at the same time.
It achieves moments of utter beauty.
The title Sutra is derived from the Pali word sutta, whose primary meaning is a collective term for the sermons of Buddha. It is also a generic term for rules and aphorisms, in Hinduism sutras laid down the guidelines for proper conduct in life. The word in Sanskrit also meant string, thread, measure of straightness.
Since its first sell-out performances at Sadler’s Wells in London in May 2008, Sutra has toured to 66 cities in 33 countries across the world. The production plays its 200th performance when it returns to the Sadler’s Wells stage. With Gormley’s striking set of 21 wooden boxes and Polish composer Szymon Brzóska’s specially commissioned score performed live, Sutra is a breath-taking spectacle of athleticism that explores the philosophy and faith behind the Shaolin tradition and its relationship with kung fu within a contemporary context.
The monks performing in Sutra are from the original Shaolin Temple, situated near Dengfeng City in the Henan Province of China and established in 495AD by monks originating from India. In 1983, the State Council defined the Shaolin Temple as the key national Buddhist Temple. The monks follow a strict Buddhist doctrine, with kung fu and tai chi martial arts forming an integral part of their daily practice. There are many martial arts schools that have also been set up in the region under the name of Shaolin, from which performers for many of the more commercial Shaolin Monk shows are drawn. The performers in Sutra however are all Buddhist Monks from the original temple itself.
For more information, please visit Sadler’s Wells website on https://www.sadlerswells.com/
