Lest We Forget, ENB, Barbican

Lest We Forget at the Barbican is an inspired thematic programme to mark the centenary of the WW1, but it’s also a good deal more than this. Through the architecture of Liam Scarlett’s No Man’s Land, with stunning design by Jon Bausor, the dramatic shifts in Russell Maliphant’s Second Breath to Akram Khan’s Dust with Sander Loonen's raised, red dust design, its cultural context is rich and varied. Khan’s signature choreography - his serpentine, linked arms, his communal, ritualistic uniformity - never looked so good; matched by the percussive, evocative rhythms of Jocelyn Pook’s original score. These choreographic motifs are explored independently by Scarlett and Malphant earlier, adding to the production's heightened expressionistic style. The final image of dancer, Tamara Rojo, as she spins out of a waltz step, alone, shows Dance as a simple metaphor for life, a glimpsed moment, grandly squandered or heroically given.......Lest We Forget catapults English National Ballet, under the inspired directorship of Rojo, onto an international platform........