Rhythm Is It + Q&A with Scottish Dance Theatre

To celebrate Scottish Dance Theatre’s 40th Anniversary, we’re screening Rhythm Is It! followed by a Q&A with Joan Clevillé, Artist Director at Scottish Dance Theatre. 

During his first season as conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle collaborated with choreographer (and founder of Scottish Dance Theatre) Royston Maldoom in an ambitious educational undertaking: a performance of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ with some 250 Berlin schoolchildren of disparate ages, ethnic backgrounds and virtually no experience with classical music or modern dance. 

This jubilant documentary traces the multi-stranded preparations, highlighting the vibrant personalities of Rattle, Maldoom and a handful of the students as chaos is transformed into order under the driving rhythm of Stravinsky’s primordial score.

Directors Thomas Grube and Enrique Sanchez Lansch prove remarkably adept at the tricky task of visually interpreting dance and also skilled at tracing the dawning awareness of hitherto clueless teens. Intercut with dance sessions where the inchoate running around of untutored children slowly starts to morph into recognisable movement are rehearsals of the Berlin Philharmonic, kinetically edited to enhance both the internal dramatic impact of the music and the discipline and control of the musicians. The film’s climax delivers on the promise of its build-up.

Originally founded in 1986 by trailblazing choreographer Royston Maldoom as Dundee Rep Dance Company, Scottish Dance Theatre is now Scotland's flagship contemporary dance company, celebrating its 40th anniversary this autumn.