Inspired by a news story about “ritual sacrifice”, Obsidian Tear brings together nine dancers in a work where joy and sorrow intertwine
It’s dark: the only thing illuminating the stage is an ominous strip of orange light across the floor. Otherwise, it’s just bodies on bodies: nine half-naked men interacting with one another in ways both soft and violent, against an increasingly frantic, violin-driven score. Joy and sorrow intertwine.Wayne McGregor’sis a singular, intense piece of work, making its Australian premiere this month as a part of The Australian Ballet’s.
When originally researching for the piece, The Royal Ballet resident choreographer came across a news story about Islamic State throwing suspected gay men from rooftops in an act of “ritual sacrifice”. This story embodies the confronting nature of“Esa-Pekka’s score seemed to capture the chaos and confusion of these atrocious events, but countered them with musically haunting passages of great beauty, of love,” McGregor says.
The work’s emotional extremities, and its moments of grace, take on deeper resonance in the complex modern age, where finding common humanity is more important than ever. “As countries lean into nationalistic politics, homophobia, transphobia, denying an individual’s right to choose what happens to and with their own body, othering is being globally fortified,” McGregor says.