It makes complete sense that Wayne McGregor would be attracted to Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, the story of a scientist who engineers a perfect race of people. McGregor's own choreography so often seems an attempt to transcend the limitations of the body, embracing technology, streamlining the messiness of fallible humans.
To stage Atwood's complex world is a colossal challenge, but McGregor revels in a big vision. He has made a ballet that's epic, ambitious, flawed, in parts inspired, in others wanting, often beautiful and not for a moment boring.
MaddAddam was premiered by the National Ballet of Canada in 2022 to mixed reviews, and it has had some tweaks for this European premiere by the Royal Ballet, including a voiceover by Tilda Swinton, which goes some way to quelling narrative confusion.
This story is from the November 16, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 16, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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