Annabel van Baren

Photo: Anna van Kooij

Matthias Sperling’s solo Riff explores the sampling of choreographies, setting himself the task of molding an original work out of material by three other choreographers: William Forsythe, Shobana Jeyasingh and Laila Diallo. With an original soundscore by sampling artist Scanner, Riff is a physically articulate rendering of the question of what makes a choreographic work original. The result is a subtle dialogue between the choreographic voices of the samples and Matthias’ own individual signature. Matthias displayed a highly advanced ability to blend his movements and phrases with those of others at lightning speed. A bare stage featuring only a LCD-banner informed the audience of which choreographer’s work he drew upon in that moment. Soon, the individual names became jumbled and confused: William Forsythe became WiLliAM fORsytHE, which was soon to be amalgamated into a assemblage of others – jeSa shO diAL f o R je SA Sho. I was struck by Matthias’ costume: simple grey t-shirt with black jeans, bare feet. It seemed as though he had just rushed in from another location (bar, office, home), took off his shoes, and started to dance. A staggering feat of bodily control, advanced dance technique, and most of all a through knowledge of all three choreographers’ particular dance language makes Riff a pleasure and a delight.