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Il Distratto (The Distracted)
is an abstract ballet in five movements set to Haydn's "Symphony No. 60",
a work originally composed as incidental music for Regnard's 1774 play Le Distrait.
In the last movement, the violins retune their lowest string from F to G to reflect the "distraught" state of the play's principal character.
Christensen reflects the music in his choreography as the stage is suddenly transformed from distorted anarchy to perfectly symmetrical clarity.
Christensen described the work as "an instructive analysis of how dancers learn ... training each part of the body separately."
But what sets it apart are its comic touches.
Lights illuminate only legs and ankles. Ultra-violet lights make costumes appear fluorescent.
You see the top of one dancer, the legs of another.
Each part of the body is isolated ... legs, feet, arms, hands, head;
but all must come together to produce a final result.
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