Michael Clark

This is a creative compilation of interviews with Michael's artistic associates by Susan Cotter eg.with Bodymap, essays and articles by himself and others(Richard Glasstone, Matthew Hawkins, Stephanie Jordan,Michael Bracewell), interspersed with exciting photos.of Michael in his many productions and outrageous costumes. Dancing from 4yrs.,he arrived at the Royal Ballet school aged 13,'a beautiful,sleek boy,wonderful footwork,nimble...very well-behaved,very nice...'and then he discovered punk,booze,smoking and sniffing and was rescued by his teacher,Richard Glasstone,who boarded him. He proved to be ' an absolutely perfect classical dancer with the most refined,understated technique...a charismatic,delightful creature, a gifted being filled with a polymorphous sensuality...sexual ambiguity and the compelling vulnerability of youth'. Groomed to replace Dowell, he jumped ship to Ballet Rambert, aged 17yrs., before the end of his R.B.course. After a season with Rambert came the greater freedom of Riverside Studios. He was crucial to the shift of talented,classical dancers over to modern,which raised the profile of the latter. His performances sold out and the audience was part of it;everyone dressed up. Soon (at 19yrs.) he was made choreographer in residence,working alongside Merce Cunningham, John Cage et al. After a spell in N.Y. in 1982,being stretched by Karole Armitage,he returned 'with a very convincing set of lower-back muscles and peroxide buzz-cut'. Starting his famous collaborations with Leigh Bowery, Bodymap,Charles Atlas et al.,he established his own company (1984 at 21yrs.),taking modern dance into new realms,with "Hail the New Puritan"etc. John Percival said of him:'He knows how to use his dancers but composes more imaginatively for himself'. 'This spitting,kicking visionary,bare-bottomed uber-tart in platform soles is the quintessential image of Michael's dancing'.He captured the feel of the now,'juxtaposing the immaculate cool of ballet classicism with the riotous, colourful club sub-culture that formed his daily life'. Soon Scottish Ballet,Paris Opera(Nureyev) ,The Holland Festival (I am Curious,Orange) and E.N.B. wanted to commission his works. And from his intimate personal and professional relationship with Stephen Petronio emerged Rite/Mmm (1991),with a whole new range of movement(compare Nijinsky). Then came Apollo/O (1994) with 'Michael's unforgettable beauty and vulnerability,deliciously languid,supremely poised and claiming an inevitable rightness, in both refinement and awkwardness'. By now, Michael was returning to classical 'order', Stravinsky(he had used The Fall, Bowie,Lou Reed,Velvet Underground,The Wire et al in the past) and Balanchine yet he still took liberties, conflating the themes of Mmm,O and I Do/Noces. So. Michael has done'an extraordinary thing for dance,making it a pop -art form for a huge range of people',showing how it can be freed from the shackles that still restrain it. Affectionate tributes are offered by fellow dancers:'Working with Michael there is no envy or competition;he is eternally generous,comfortable with his own genius,first to recognise and encourage the talents of others,never feeling threatened by any of his dancers' 'Michael possesses an amazing humility and he's just unaffected.Often charmingly shy about his material - extremely technical and challenging,so particular,down to the angle of a head'. ' He was so compelling and exciting to watch. This is the way God intends it'. Michael Clark was and is Nijinsky and Diaghilev in one. A chronology (with commentaries) of his oeuvre concludes the book

Brilliant book for any Michael Clark fan

I was expecting great things from this book, mainly because I have read and loved the Leigh Bowery edition from Robert Violette but also because this has been put on back order so many times I wondered if it would ever surface! The book is obviously packed full of quality photos and excellent interviews from Clark's associates and friends and the amazing detail in the chronological order of Clark's work at the end of the book cannot be given enough praise. My only gripe lies with the fact that this a book about one of the greatest contemporary dancers of our time and it could have been so much more informative if elements of his work were included on a CD or DVD sold with the book, particularly for those who have not been fortunate to experience Michael Clark and Company live. Photographs can tell only half a story relative to dance and movement.