Video of the Week: Max Richter – On The Nature of Daylight

This week I’ve decided to leave actual music videos and instead show a ballet piece choreographed by David Dawson, set to Max Richter’s On The Nature of Daylight from his superb album The Blue Notebooks. Along with Steve Reich and Philip Glass, Richter is for me one of the most interesting artists fusing classical compositions with the increased scope of electronic production, and although his work strays much further towards the classical side, he is cited as an influence by countless contemporary electronic artists.

I’m not going to pretend to know a great deal about ballet, but even from an outsider’s perspective the idea of expressing emotions and relationships solely through movement is an intriguing proposition, and the feelings depicted by this piece are by no means obscure or difficult for someone unfamiliar with ballet to interpret. The dancers move with remarkable grace and poise, and the vague narrative of their relationship is set perfectly to Richter’s achingly mournful suite. I won’t go into interpretations of the dance because I don’t know a great deal about the form, but I hope you can enjoy the expressive piece and that this is a breath of fresh air.