Handspun (2012)
(for Aerialist and Cellist)

"At the back of the stage cellist Louise McMonagle adds to this surreal dialogue by playing Luke Styles’s effective score, a sort of modern take on the musique parlante, or ‘speaking music’ that ballet composers went in for in the 19th century."

“On a quieter note I loved Ilona Jäntti's (and Luke Styles’s) Handspun, an aerialist performance piece set to a live cello solo. Eschewing the usual death-defying circus turns, Jäntti gave us dreamy lyricism, hanging from her rope like a drowsy spider and slowly circling in a golden light. While clearly born of the steeliest skill, the piece gave an impression of profound detachment and peace. I envied her.”