Life
Light of Passage review: ‘brings October 7 victims to mind’
It is impossible to watch this work and not think of the children who were murdered on Black Shabbat
March 4, 2025 17:03
1 min read
It is impossible to watch this work and not think of the children who were murdered on Black Shabbat
March 4, 2025 17:03Crystal Pite’s award-winning short piece Flight Pattern was created for the Royal Ballet in 2017 and extended in 2022 to become a full-length work called Light of Passage. Examining the themes of displacement, loss and the power of human connection, the ballet is divided into three parts: the original Flight Pattern; a short section called Covenant and finally Passage. Light of Passage looks at a humanitarian crisis and the plight of refugees – when performed in 2022 the parallels with Ukraine were all too obvious; now, inevitably, what is happening in the Middle East is the first thing that springs to mind.
When it ws performed in 2022 the parallels with Ukraine were all too obvious; now, inevitably, what is happening in the Middle East is the first thing that springs to mind
Set to Henryk Gorecki’s sorrowful third symphony, Flight Pattern remains the most powerful of the three sections. The dancers ebb and flow in near darkness, they convulse and shudder in unison. The lighting – such that it is – is particularly effective, and Jay Gower Taylor’s set design is suitably minimalist. The piece is moving and fierce, led by the always watchable Kristen McNally, one of the finest principal character artists in the company.
