«Paseillo» and «Los Picadores» by Javier De Frutos

The two works that Javier de Frutos, new artistic director of Phoenix Dance Theatre, presents at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London are themed in more senses than their corrida associated appellations. They both deal with serial sexual relationships and feature issues of emotional and physical violence, although the pieces look and sound totally different. “Los Picadores” starts with four bloodstained men in baggy, stained briefs who punctuate their physical interaction with vicious kicks and punches.

The movement material is thin and the blows unconvincing, despite the best efforts of the cast. A surreal element is contributed by the over-amplified soundtrack of Stravinsky’s “Les Noces” performed by the Pokrovsky Ensemble, which sounds like a group of oriental men having their testicles removed with rusty saws. Thus far the stark lighting of Michael Hulls is the artistic element winning hands down. The arrival of Ana Luján Sánchez coincides with some firm choreographic structure. Her tiny, combative figure ratchets up the emotional intensity as she and Tanya Richam-Odoi join the men in fierce confrontation. A recurring motif of three dancers lifting the prone form of another ...