Soda Lake

First performed: 1986 Choreographer: Richard Alston Design: Nigel Hall, Soda Lake (1968) Lighting designer: Sid Ellen

About the piece:

Soda Lakewas originally an idea for a BBC programme. When the project stalled, Richard Alston decided to make the piece for live performance instead. It was created for the dancer Michael Clark.

The dancer wears a black sleeveless leotard and tights. The set is a sculpture entitled Soda Lake, created by Nigel Hall in 1968. It is a response to the physical geometry of the Mojave Desert in North America. It is made up of two separate pieces: a rod and a circle, both suspended from above.

Soda Lakeis performed in silence, although the original intent was for Nigel Osborne, composer for Wildlife, to create music for the piece. When he saw the choreography, he felt that it was complete in itself and that music would detract, rather than enhance, the dance.

The dance is an abstract choreographic response to Nigel Hall’s sculpture. The choreography refers to the shape and line of the sculpture, and in places the dynamic qualities