Sibilo, 2016
‘There’s so much high-class invention crammed into just thirty minutes: a cartoon-y vaudeville duet, male doublework where the slipping in and out of one jacket speaks volumes, and more sly fun when - at the peep of a whistle - costumes are whisked away on wires. Cleverest of all, though, is how the jauntiness, the rivalries and games-play all tell recognisable stories of what whistles up togetherness.’
The Herald
Sibilo is a lighthearted series of vignettes, with miniature portraits of the dancers in the company, each with their individual personalities.
The way clothes are used in the piece is about revealing what is behind the dancers' everyday costumes. It’s another way of seeing the dancers, getting behind the façade, getting behind their everyday routine. The title comes from the Latin for ‘whistle’ and the motif of whistling runs throughout the piece, linking the vignettes together.
Sibilo (September 2016)
Commission: Scottish Ballet, double bill with Emergence by Crystal Pite
Dancers: 8 dancers
Music: New score from Alex Menzies (Alex Smoke) / Whistleitis Fred Lowery / Czardas Vittorio Lonti
Length: 30min
2019: Sibilo was performed as part of Ballet West Choreographic Festival Venue: Rose Wagner Theatre, Salt Lake City.
2020: alongside Preljocaj’s MC14/22 (Ceci est mon corps), Sibilo went to the Joyce Theatre New York City.
‘By rights, a young choreographer at the start of her career should pale into insignificance in the shadow of such greatness (ref. to Crystal Pite). And yet in the case of Sophie Laplane’s Sibilo, nothing could be further from the truth. A dancer with Scottish Ballet since 2004, Laplane has proffered small nuggets of choreography, but this is her first 30-minute piece – and it’s superb. Quirky, angular moves performed by four couples with wit and sensuality meet clever costuming that literally flies off the stage, in a work that would be at home in any major European theatre.’
The Scotsman
Photography: Jane Hobson. Rehearsal photography: Andy Ross.