Dance: Ballet Black at the Barbican
Ochoa has taken the traditional fairytale and refashioned it as a rite-of-passage allegory for a teenage heroine discovering her sexuality
by Debra Craine
March 6th 2017
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s new take on Red Riding Hood is the kind of ambitious one-act storytelling creation that gives Ballet Black its distinctive advantage in the independent dance scene. The piece has a vibrant atmosphere, dynamic choreography, deliciously entertaining music, standout performances and a sense of dark fun. And it’s almost a runaway success.
The Colombian-Belgian dancemaker has taken the traditional fairytale and refashioned it as a rite-of-passage allegory for a teenage heroine discovering her sexuality amid a minefield of potential dangers — from party drugs to rape and unwanted pregnancy. It’s not hard to imagine the big bad wolf as a streetwise sexual predator, though he’s so pompous in his leather gear that you have to laugh, and the whole piece has the atmosphere of…