It was a sheer joy to work with dancer Daniel Davidson and dancer/choreographer Pierre Tappon on this project. It was interesting how flexible the pacing of the music becomes when you are actually on stage with a dancer (as opposed to being in a pit where you often don't see anything on stage).
We were not conducted and both Daniel as the solo dancer, myself as accompanist/protagonist (here with music from JS Bach's solo flute Partita) and Pierre as choreographer all worked together to realise Pierre's intention for his work 'Wall'. Pierre was sensitive to the element of change brought about by live performance and the initiation of musical ideas flowing to and fro between dancer and musician to form a third element of drama and pacing.
Photograph courtesy of Pierre Tappon
Reviews courtesy of The Place:
'Pierre Tappon is best known as a dancer with Rambert and Richard Alston, but here he turns choreographer with Wall, a solo for dancer Daniel Davidson. It's a thoughtfully composed work of clear intentions: a trapped man railing against the walls around him. Davidson – a precise and articulate dancer – pushes, falls and sprawls, his curling body arching against the single white wall on stage. His shadow forms another character, along with flautist Emma Williams playing Bach. The cool logic of the music may be at odds with the dramatics of Wall's climax, but this is a short, simple and strong work.'
Lyndsey Winship
'Pierre Tappon, dancer with Rambert kicked off Saturday’s performance with Wall, a ten minute work in which the soloist (acrobatic and athletic Daniel Davidson) “explores the walls of his inner emotional world.” Whilst the movement required dexterous technical skill – unsurprising due to Tappon’s credentials – it was not merely a display of ability, but an intelligent collage of images exploring the concepts of physical and mental confinement. The sound score of a Bach Partita performed live on stage was accompanied by the poignant thuds of the dancer battering himself against minimalist staging, and this combined with creative lighting decisions defining the space and casting ominous shadows, created an intriguing, considered - if at times over-dramatized - work.'
Emily May