Obsidian Tear, a ballet for 9 men by Wayne McGregor The dancers have soared in this work. Exploring. Pushing limits of their body. Breathing together. Finding their own way. The entire stage is a scared atmosphere. Great work men. On Obsidian Tear: Rather than a narrative interpretation of the myth, Obsidian Tear draws on the physicality of emotion at its core, as well as exploring the properties and geological journey of the obsidian rock as metaphor for the potent emotional and social forces exerted on human life. “The title expresses the extremity of what happens inside the body when we feel intense emotional suffering, the sensation of something tearing and releasing fluid. The central metaphor of the piece is how interior forces like violent emotion materially shape the geology of our surroundings, in the same way as they become archived in our own DNA” – Wayne McGregor

McGregor translates this idea of intense, violent emotion into the raw physicality of the choreography in Obsidian Tear. Against a minimal yet bold stage environment, illuminated by a single flowing strip of orange floor suggesting a threatening, volcanic source, the visceral movements of the male dancers exhibit a dynamism between extreme tenderness and extreme brutality in sweeping group sections and tender solo performances, the body exposed in the bare setting of the stage. @studiowaynemcgregor Photos: @jeffbusbyphotos