This past week, in a chillingly prescient way, a rescheduled visit of English National Ballet’s production of Akram Khan’s “Creature” arrived on the Harris stage, and it could not have been more ideally timed.
In 2019, the English National Ballet’s breathtaking production of Akram Khan’s “Giselle,” a reimagined version of the ballet classic, arrived at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and was an enormous success. The company was subsequently scheduled to return to Chicago in the spring of 2020 to perform Khan’s “Creature,” but that was a visit that had to be canceled because of the onset of COVID.
The story , is set in a giant, rotting wooden barrack in a desolate part of the Arctic, and it goes like this: The shy, innocent fellow known only as Creature , is deeply in love with Marie, a young maid . But he is forced into a terrible experiment of near inhuman endurance by an army Major , who wants Marie for himself. The Major is aided and abetted by the Doctor , who will do his bidding only to inspire his love. And his henchman, the Captain , clearly takes orders to keep his position.
But back to the ballet. As it happens, the Creature survives his terrible ordeal and is still madly in love with Marie. But once again the Major takes control and pursues Marie against her will, and to a tragic end. The Creature is helpless.Love and innocence, power and cruelty, the quest for mass control and human destruction are all part of the ballet’s mix.
Oliveira beautifully captured the fear, yearning and determination of Maria as she ached for the Creature but was reduced to mopping the floor and repelling the unwanted advances of the Major. The supporting dancers, dressed in gray-toned fatigues, were an ideal chorus.
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