Spotlight on the dancers

By inviting the Swedish ­director Linus Tunström to create “Dödsbo” (Obituary), Johan Inger gave his ensemble the opportunity to work in a theatrical form close to the Cullberg/Ek tradition. In his own work, “Som om” (As If), Inger continues on a larger scale what he began in the last part of “Tripp,” loosening up the choreography and inviting the dancers to draw on their own creative initiative. The double bill also featured interesting details that pointed in new directions, with duets moving away from the old man-lifting-woman concept and towards a contemporary reality.

The ballets have a pleasingly aggressive energy and weird humour which fits nicely into the Cullberg/Ek tradition. But most importantly, they give the gorgeous dancers of the Cullberg Ballet maximum visibility.
In the opening of “Dödsbo,” set designer Ulla Kassius presents a group of ­elegant upper middle class people assembled in a very Swedish working-class living room, and one person – Mats Jansson – who doesn‘t really fit in. In his old-fashioned attire he could be the dead loved one, or the poor relative. The room is sealed off; a reminder of the almost claustrophobic emotional isolation that often dominates ...