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sadler’s wells is currently showing an unusual piece involving equestrian artistry by bartabas, a french gent with the utmost sensibility in his lifetime dedication to performance with horses. he is joined on stage by a veteran butoh artist ko murobushi in a very visually stunning yet overall somewhat puzzling act.

the four horses on the stage and their master (or servant) are absolutely magical and their movements are at the very least poetic. the whole show is beautifully set in the sea of black sand with horses and their rider appearing to float touching the viewer with it’s honesty.

i was looking forward to this for a while now and was ready to be completely taken by the graciousness of the horse performance. and they didn’t disappoint. however, no matter how visually clean the dancers’ performances were, they were somewhat slow and at times excruciating and not helped by the poetry recited.

still, i left mesmerised with the piece and am definitely happy i got to see it.