'Flight Pattern' at the Royal Ballet

Crystal Pite’s Flight Pattern is wonderful. I could end there, it would save me some time and I could go and cook my pasta, but it’s a piece that I need to comment on in detail. Firstly, how nice to have a female choreographer back on the Royal Opera House stage after too many years. Pite has said in interviews that Flight Pattern is her way of dealing with current affairs and what is going on right now in the world. Whereas some may choose to look away, or to open Daily Mail Showbiz tabs to escape it all (me I’m sad to say very much included here), Pite’s medium is dance. She can tell a story well through this medium. I have never seen any of her other work, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but within the first second of hearing the eerie, bass of the music and seeing the first few moments of cramped figures motioning together, I knew this was a choreographer whose work we should be glad to see. The main theme of the piece is the impact of war, forcing immigration and a migration to another land, hence the title of the piece. Pite actually plays on this idea a lot with the choreography, making her dancers group together and move in unison, arms mimicking wings, heads mimicking those of curious birds and patterns emulating large flocks of birds in flight. Watching the dancers move in this way is powerful and strong, but it also creates a deep emotional level to the narrative of the piece as she compares humans forced to relocate to the seasonal change of a bird’s habitat. In the same way that birds are trapped in a recurring cycle, flying to different lands when the seasons change, here we have humans trapped in a similar way, with no other choice but to relocate. Although I can find hints of Hofesh Schechter and Akram Khan, I love Pite’s choreography and I love every move she has created in this piece. She cleverly depicts a crammed boat at sea, figures climbing desperately over each other, possibly to find other loved ones. She also depicts their togetherness and dependence on each other and their reticence once they have reached the new land. Although it’s very difficult to pick out the dancers because so much of their time on stage is spent huddled together, I did notice one dancer with such a harrowing expression, it seemed to sum it all up for me. I had no idea who she was but did some research and realised it was Ashley Dean, a young artist in the company. I’ll start to take notice of her from now on.

Although Pite triggers a lot of ethical questions in all of us, she also reaches us on a human level. She asks us to connect with her dancing migrants, and cleverly knows that the most effective way to do this is honing in on one story. The narrative she chooses is that of a mother, whose child has been killed, whether during war or during their escape (I’m assuming that the death of Alan Kurdi is a large influence), and we watch how she cannot cope with this tragic outcome. The mother is played by Kristen McNally, a refreshing choice in casting; she portrays the helpless and devastated mother, who has lost everything, with sheer magnitude. She was moving and heartbreaking in the role. I don’t want to hold too strong a feminist stance here, but I really think the choreography benefits from being created by a woman as Pite can fully engage and bring to the surface the themes of innate motherly love. The man who we assume to be the mother’s partner was played by Marcelino Sambe who was staggeringly fantastic here. Once again he proves his ability to mold himself into any role and do so with great talent, but here he hit hard with a more emotional response. The main bulk of the piece depicts the group of dancers, but it builds up to Sambe’s solo which closes Flight Pattern. Here he conveys a man who has lost everything and has nothing left to bring him joy. As the plain of the new land approaches and he has finally made it to safety, he realises that the death of his child, and the instability of his partner, will never leave him. He pours emotion into the choreography and every movement that Pite has created tells us exactly how he is feeling. In fact, every movement during the whole piece can depict every emotion, every conflicting thought and every fear one would expect to experience in such a devastating situation.

I was overcome with emotion once it was all over, wiping away tears and clearing my throat so no more would fall. Pite has been able to connect what has become so familiar to us on our television screens to real life, as whilst sitting in the auditorium one is immersed in this narrative. I look forward to seeing more of her work and would expect to see Flight Pattern revived some time soon. I hope when it does come back it will no longer be relevant, but unfortunately a large part of me is doubtful of this.