Among the young English groups emerging in the 1990s, Ricochet Dance Company, founded in 1989 by dancers Kate Gowar and Karin Potisk, has an unusual structure for a contemporary dance group. It is not directed by a choreographer but is building a repertoire of works signed by new names in English dance. Kate Gowar and Karin Potisk commission two works per season, allowing the company to explore different approaches to movement year after year. Three choreographers were involved in the double program hosted by Oriente Occidente: Wayne McGregor, Javier De Frutos, and Rosemary Lee.
Wayne McGregor, director of Random Dance Company and currently based at the Place Theatre in London, is a key figure in the development of contemporary English choreography. "Urban Savage" is a piece for five dancers that aims to explore the relationship between vulnerability and aggression, desire and the impossibility of contact.
Javier De Frutos, famous for performing naked in solo acts with provocative themes, is one of the most prominent names on the young London scene. He grew up in New York with Laura Dean's company and has created two intriguing pieces for Ricochet Dance Company. The first, "E Muoio Disperato," winner of the Bagnolet Competition in 1992, is based on the third act of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" and boldly claims to be "not suitable for a children's audience." Sex, love, jealousy, and death are the central themes of this extravagant narrative, where even kissing becomes a choreographic inspiration.
De Frutos chose to revisit a 20th-century classic for his second piece, "All visitors bring happiness, some by coming, some by going." The work is based on Igor Stravinsky's "Les Noces," an oratorio depicting the social ritual of a Russian peasant wedding, first choreographed in 1923 by Bronislava Nijinska. De Frutos approaches Stravinsky's narrative and score with great freedom, creating what The Times described as "30 minutes of choreography as furious as a sexual act."
Rosemary Lee, known for her solo dance work and group choreography in specific settings (such as a ruined abbey for "Haughmond Dances" and a tire depot for "Ascending Fields"), created her first piece for Ricochet Dance Company in 1997: "Treading the Night Plain." This piece is a study of the relationship between light and the body, inspired by the music of American composer Terry Riley.
