Orpheus

The title of José Montalvo and Dominique Hervieu's elaborate mixture of dance, acrobatics, classical arias, pop tunes, and instrumental music suggests a version of the story of the musician who won back his dead wife, Eurydice, from Hades. True, among the numbers that make up the pastiche of a score here are snippets from the operas by Monteverdi and Gluck based on the tale of Orpheus. But it would be a mistake to expect a coherent narrative in this 2010 production from the Théâtre National de Chaillot, in which the creators deliberately eschew a linear account, instead presenting a phantasmagorical collage of elements. Incorporating music by other pre-baroque composers, Tchaikovsky, and Philip Glass, as well as percussive African numbers and hip-hop interludes, the colorful Orpheus features an eclectic array of dancers, including an astonishingly dexterous one-legged man brandishing a crutch; an athlete who jumps around on pneumatic stilts; an African singer; and people running back and forth with opened umbrellas. Rear-stage projections, often spotlighting animals presumably enchanted by Orpheus's lyre, are also regularly seen. The result is rather a mess, aesthetically speaking, but nonetheless exuberant, fascinatingly wild, and over-the-top. Presented in PCM stereo, this should be considered a strong optional purchase for modern dance collections. (F. Swietek)