Barcelona,
on tour

Sound and lighting usually support the action on stage. They often do so with such subtlety that one barely notices how crucial this support is; in fact, one only really notices it when it is absent—or when something goes awry. Take, for instance, Cuqui Jerez’s Sugar Island—a ballet piece that seems disconcertingly classic at first glance, recently presented at the Internationales Sommerfestival Hamburg and scheduled for the Catalan festival Sâlmon in October. A ballerina—Cécile Brousse, dressed casually in leggings and a hoodie—steps onto the stage at the Kampnagel arts center. The lights come up, she attempts a plié, and—it goes dark again. Apparently a glitch; the lights come back on. And then go dark again immediately. Meanwhile, there is the sound of the ocean.