''Dust'' is a one-act contemporary ballet about

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, choreographed by Akram Khan, music by

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...

and created for the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

. It marked the first time Khan worked with a ballet company, and premiered on 2 April 2014 at the Barbican Centre, London.

Production

Background

Akram Khan's ''Dust'' was commissioned for the

's mixed bill, ''Lest We Forget'', which is about the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and one of the first commissions by artistic director

Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is the English National Ballet's artistic director (2012–2022) and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She ...

. For the mixed bill, Rojo said she chose choreographers who are British and from different backgrounds, including Khan, who was only trained in contemporary dance and

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

. Though Khan had previously rejected all invitations from ballet companies, he accepted Rojo's offer, due to her "passion" and "vision".

Choreography

Khan said the ballet is "dominated by women". The first part is about

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became ar ...

. Khan said he was "intrigued" about it as the soldiers would likely die once they leave the trenches, but continued to build them. The middle section features women working in factories while their loved ones were fighting, and the weapons they made were likely to be used to kill others' loved ones. performed by 12 female dancers. The third and last part is a duet originated by Khan and Rojo. According to Khan, it is about the relationship between women and "their loved ones at the front." Khan opted the female dancers to dance off

pointe Pointe technique ( ) is the part of classical ballet technique that concerns ''pointe work'', in which a ballet dancer supports all body weight on the tips of fully extended feet within pointe shoes. A dancer is said to be ''en pointe'' () wh ...

, because he needed "to know the vocabulary of pointe work more deeply, to find out what I want to say with it."

Music

The ballet uses original composition by

, who had collaborated with Khan on two other projects before. For the final section, she wrote a song with lyrics from the poem "

In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and ...

" , sung by counter tenor Jonathan Peter Kenny. She also used a recording of WWI soldier Edward Dwyer describing the war and singing "we’re here because we’re here" to the melody of " Auld Lang Syne". Pook said she had that recording prior to composing this ballet, but initially did not know Dwyer died in the war.

Performances

In 2014, ''Dust'', along with two other commissioned works for ''Lest We Forget'' premiered at Barbican Centre, which was not built for dance performances, and English National Ballet had never performed there before. At the premiere, ''Dust'' received rave reviews. Dance critic

Jann Parry Jann Parry is a British ballet critic and writer. She was ballet critic of ''The Observer'' from 1983 to 2004. Her biography, ''Different Drummer: a Life of Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a ...

wrote that ''Dust'' was a "resounding success for Khan as creator." ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' also praised the ballet, writing it was "dancing full of pain and power." Later that year, ''Dust'' was performed at the Glastonbury Festival, danced by

Erina Takahashi Erina Takahashi, born in the city of Kushiro in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a Lead Principal dancer with the English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as Lond ...

and James Streeter, making it English National Ballet's debut at Glastonbury. In 2018, on the hundredth anniversary of the end of the first world war, the ''Lest We Forget'' programme, including ''Dust'', was revived at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, including a special performance for

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in n ...

. In 2020, a video of ''Dust'', performed by Rojo and Streeter, was made available online by the English National Ballet in response to the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts.

Awards and nominations

References

{{Reflist

External links

English National Ballet websiteExtract from the factory sectionExtract from the final duet
2014 ballet premieres Ballets premiered in London Ballets based on actual events Ballets about World War I Ballets set in the 1910s