Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company DragonsAlhambra Theatre, Bradford 22 Mar 2025 19:30
The phrase "Hic Sunt Dracones" (Here be Dragons) appeared on an early 16th-century globe to indicate unexplored regions. I mention it because the show is called Dragons. That early cartographer's term is apt to describe the performance of the Eun-Me Ahn Dance Company at the Bradford Alhambra on 22 Mar 2025 because it defied classification. It was presented by Dance Consortium as contemporary dance, but it was also a light show with holograms and special effects.
Eun Me Ahn, who was born in Seoul in 1963, is a South Korean dancer and choreographer. Her company consists of 7 Korean dancers. She describes her company's work in an interview for Dance Consortium on YouTube. For its tour of the UK, her company has teamed up with 5 young artists from other East Asian countries, all of whom were born at the turn of the millennium.
The show starts quietly with a single figure slowly crossing the stage, manipulating what seems to be a pneumatic tube. After exiting to the right, a second figure appears and then more. In the course of the show, still and moving images are projected onto a gauze screen at the front of the stage. These seem to mingle with the dancers so that it is impossible to distinguish between illusion and reality.
To describe the show as controversial would be an understatement. A couple from Skegness whom I had met in the bar before the show did not appreciate it at all. Others found it exhilarating. Like the unknown regions in the 16th-century globe, it was on the edge of expectations.
I wish I could say more about Eun-Me Ahn and her company. I could not buy a programme in the theatre and I found very little on the internet. My most intriguing find is a page of links to Dragons and other works on the Gadja Productions website. Some of these have very odd names like "Dancing Grandmothers" and "Dancing Middle-Aged Men". I recommend North Korea Dance, which combines marching with fan and other traditional folk dances.
Ailey 2 (Enemy in the Figure, Freedom Series, The Hunt and Revelations)Alhambra Theatre, Bradford 18 Oct2023 19:30
Aikey II is to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre what NDT2 is to the Nederlands Dans Theater. According to its website, Ailey 2 is "universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best early-career dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding and emerging choreographers." By inference, it consists of some of the best early-career dance talent in the United States.
The company has just completed a tour of England and Inverness. I caught it at the Bradford Alhambra on 18 Oct 2023 where it performed four of its works:
The choice of works and the order in which they were presented were a reverse retrospective of the development of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Ailey II. Although William Forsyth is an American he made his reputation in Germany. His works have been performed by companies all over the world including the Royal Ballet but it was through performances by Continental companies that I learned about his work. Ailey II's artistic director Francesca Harper danced with the Frankfurt Ballet while Forsyth was the Director. Robert Battle is the current Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Alvin Ailey was, of course, the companies' founder.
Another way of looking at the programme was that it started with a work or at least a style that is familiar to European audiences as it is in the repertoire of many of the world's leading companies, continued with a work in the same tradition but by an American choreographer, followed with one that was quintessentially American and finished with pure African-American music and dance. Visually my abiding memory of Freedom Series is of the illuminated white globes carried by the audience. Aurally it is of the juxtaposition of voice against the electronic score. Excitement mounted with the beat of Les Tambours de Bronx. The show climaxed with Revelations bringing African-American spirituals that were familiar but sung and danced with a rawness and energy that was anything but.
Revelations was my favourite piece of the evening. There were remarkable performances by everyone in the cast but I was particularly impressed by Spencer Everett in I Wanna Be Ready and Corinth Moultrie, Patrick Gamble and Alfred L Jordan II. Interestingly, I heard some of the same music two weeks later in Mthuthuzeli November's Nina By Whatever Means where it was interpreted subtly differently by a South African choreographer and a Brazilian lead dancer.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Ailey II are more than just performance companies. There is a vocational school in New York and classes for the general public, I was pleased to read in the programme notes that there is a scheme for the school and companies to train promising British students known as Ailey Project UK. Apparently, the first batch of British students is already in the USA. The programme also states that the project has been promoted by Marcus Willis who danced with Alvin Ailey and is now the Artistic Director of Phoenix. I met Marcus several times when he was with Ballet Cymru and was very impressed.
The last tour of the UK by Ailey II was in 2011 though we have seen the main company several times since them. I hope that we do not have to wait another decade to see those super-talented young artists again,
asekhaya Standard YouTube Licence Birmingham Royal Ballet Giselle28 Sept 2019 Birmingham Hippodrome 19:30 Dasa Masilo Giselle12 Oct 2019 Bradford Alhambra 19:30
I have seen two fine productions of Giselle: David Bintley's for the Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Birmingham Hippodrome on 28 Sept 2019 and Dada Masilo's at the Bradford Alhambra last night. Both were impressive even though they could not have been more different.
Bintley's was a direct descendant of Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot's of 1841 with Marius Petipa's modifications. He created his version in collaboration with Galina Samsova who would have studied the lead role in Ukraine before performing it herself to great acclaim with the company that is now known as the English National Ballet in London. According to Susan Turner's note for Birmingham Royal Ballet's programme, Samsova found a tape in which Anton Dolin,Galina Ulanova and Alicia Alonso had recorded their recollections of the ballet which influenced Bintley too. Turner noted that he and Samsova set out to create a "proper Giselle" in contrast to Arthur Mitchell's for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Mats Ek's for the Paris Opera or. now, Akram Khan's for English National.
With breathtaking designs by Hayden Griffiths and ingenious lighting by Mark Jonathan, Bintley succeeded spectacularly. The set for the first act with its apparently flowing waterfall was particularly arresting as the audience awaited Hilarion with his offering of game as well as Albrecht and his squire, Wilfred. For some reason, principals at the Hippodrome appear not to be applauded when they first appear. I experienced quizzical looks from fellow audience members when, instinctively, I began to clap Brandon Lawrence's entry on stage. I was more careful when Celine Gittens appeared at her door shortly afterwards.
Gittens was outstanding in the title role. An accomplished actor as well as virtuoso, it was hard to stay dry-eyed as she glided inexorably towards her fate. First, the plucking of the petals, the heart murmurs, the warning from her mother, feeling the hem of Bathikde's garment and finally the deception as Hilarion produced Albrecht's sword and Albrecht acknowledged his posh betrothed.
Lawrence also impressed me as he always does. He is a powerful dancer magnificent in his solos. I am not sure that Albrecht is his most natural role but he discharged it well. He came into his own in the second act with his soaring leaps and graceful turns.
Crucial to the success of any Giselle is a strong Myrtha for it is she who commands the wilis and indeed the audience. Her role is technically difficult requiring considerable strength and stamina. She must be tall, icy and aetherial. Yijing Zhang performed that role with flair.
I must also commend Matthias Dingmann and Yanquian Shang for their peasant pas de deux, Alexander Yap for his performance as Hilarion and Jonathan Pain as a worthy Wilfred. My companion who is a sports fan likes to choose a man or woman of the match when she watches a ballet and she chose Payn. Finally, I must also congratulate the corps for their highly polished performance. A lot is asked of them in Giselle and they gave their all. Bentley's was indeed a proper Giselle and one of the best.
I approached the Alhambra with a degree of trepidation for I love Giselle and would have hated to see it spoilt. While I am intrigued by innovation I detest change for change's sake. A choreographer who reimagines a classical ballet plays with fire so far as I am concerned. Ted Brandson got away with it with his Coppelia as did David Dawson with Scottish Ballet's Swan Lake. Others have been much less successful.
Masilo's reworking of Giselle succeeded for me in a way that Akram Khan's did not. I attended the premiere at The Palace three years ago have never been tempted back. By contrast, I have already booked my ticket at The Lowry to see Masilo again. Though transposed to the banks of a lake in rural Africa it was still recognizably Giselle. There were a few tweaks to the story. Obviously, Albrecht did not carry a sword. Instead, his smart trousers indicated his rank. Hilarion appears to have been Berthe's choice for an arranged marriage. She is nothing like the kind concerned mum in the traditional story. The mad scene is particularly poignant with Giselle reduced to nakedness on learning of Albrecht's betrayal. It is followed by her funeral to the haunting music of a beautiful Zulu hymn. The biggest change was with the wilis half of whom are men. Clad in identical raspberry costumes they are fiendish creatures. Myrtha, their leader, a sangoma, is danced by a man. In this version, Albrecht is shown no mercy. Giselle takes an elephant whip to him. The show ends with Giselle scattering white dust over his grave.
One of the reasons why I think Masilo's Giselle worked was her choice of score. She commissioned the South African composer, Philip Miller, to combine Western and traditional African instruments in a composition that was rooted in Africa but quoted Adam at many points. Sometimes it was just a chord. At other times a phrase or melody.
It was clear from their turnout and posture that all the dancers were classically trained but their steps were very different. There were hardly any jumps, precious few lifts, no pointework so far as I could see and not a single grand jeté. There were dialogues and soliloquies and plenty of grunts. But I think it would still be fair to call it ballet. And it was certainly gripping theatre. Unlike traditional Giselles, there was no break between act one and two, It was one of the tensest 80 minutes I can remember.
Masilo herself danced Giselle and like Gittens, she can act as well as dance, Her Albrecht was Lwando Dutyulwa. One of those most gripping moments of the show was a fight with Hilarion danced by Thshepo Zasakhaya. Also impressive was Berthe, nothing like the caring, considerate mummy in the traditional show. A three-dimensional character danced by Sinazo Bokolo. Though very different from the usual Myrtha, Llewellyn Mnguni commanded the stage at least as much as any other.
As I have seen nearly as many Giselles as I have had hot dinners I had no difficulty in following the libretto but that was not true of everybody in the audience. Even though I can understand why there was no interval I think it would have welcomed by the audience. There is only so much the senses can absorb at once. There were folk in the theatre who had never seen any other Giselle whose enjoyment would have been enhanced with a fuller synopsis and a better explanation of the cultural allusions. But Masilo is a remarkable dancer and choreographer and I can't wait to see her work again.
Any comparison between the work of one of our national companies and Masilo would be invidious and I am not going to try. I left both theatres on a high. Both versions of Giselle have their strengths. I learned a little bit about both works from seeing the other.
Standard YouTube Licence Rambert Triple Bill:A Linha Curva, Ghost Dances and Goat, 16 Nov 2017 Alhambra
One of the most memorable shows that I attended in 2017 was Rambert's triple bill at the Alhambra which I saw on Friday 16 Nov. The company presented three works:
Three very different works and it seemed to me that all had a loose connection with Latin America.
My favourite work of the evening was A Linha Curva. I had seen it at The Lowry the year before (see Red Hot Rambert1 Oct 2016). I loved it then:
"Rambert's party piece on Thursday was A Linha Curva. The stage consisted of percussionists in a box above the dancers. The work began with chants by male dancers in gigantic, reflective metallic collars which was answered by calls and screeches from the women. The stage exploded into a carnival of movement fuelled by the relentless beat of the musicians. The effect was quite hypnotic and the performers' vitality and vivacity were infectious."
I loved it even more the second time round for its colour and energy. I loved the chanting, the screeching and the rhythm. Such a contrast to the other two works which, while beautiful, were much more sobering.
Christopher Bruce created Ghost Dances in 1981 when Leopoldo Galtieri held power in Argentina and Augusto Pinochet. Both used death squads to remove political opponents. Spooks who visited opponents in the middle of the night and spirited their victims away. The faceless skeletons moving to panpipes could easily represent them at one level. At another level, they could represent the spirits of the dead in the belief systems of the Andean tribes that had been transposed only imperfectly into the religion of the Conquistadors. At either level it was a very disturbing work reminding audiences of their mortality and vulnerability. But at the same time it was also eerily beautiful with elegant jumps. I should like to see it again - but not in a hurry.
The last work was also disturbing. The "goat" in this piece had two legs not four. The human goat was chosen for much the same purpose as a scapegoat. Duke explained in the programme notes:
“In the village where I was brought up there was a tradition on New Year’s Eve of writing on a piece of paper two things you wanted to rid yourself of – it could be something bad that had happened to you, or something bad that you had done. The pieces of paper were placed inside a can which was tied to the tail of a goat. The goat was supposed to disappear over the horizon and take our sins with it. Usually it ran for five seconds or so then stopped to eat some grass. Some years it came running back towards us…”
There was a lot going on in this work. A running commentary from one of the dancers and dialogue from others. Some dance, of course, and a lot of singing on stage. According to Ben Duke's YouTube clip, rehearsals started immediately after the London Bridge terror outrage. It is in thus a commentary on the role of art in the politics of the times.
Not exactly a laugh a minute but life is brief for all and insecure for many and it does no harm occasionally to be reminded of that.
Happily, that is exactly what we can expect for Northern Ballet will dance three of Sir Kenneth's works at the Bradford Alhambra between the 5 and 7 Oct 2017. An excellent venue for the Alhambra is arguably Yorkshire's finest theatre by a country mile. The ballets that the company will perform are:
Concerto and Las Hermanas were originally created for German companies though Las Hermanas found its way into the repertoires of Western Theatre Ballet (now Scottish Ballet) and The Royal Ballet where I first saw it. Gloria was created for The Royal Ballet shortly after he had ceased to be that company's artistic director.
Nothern Ballet also plans to dance the triple bill in Leeds next year.
Standard YouTube Licence
In The Year of the Swans: My Review of 201627 Dec 2016 I wrote that two of the highlights of the year were the visits by NDT2 (see NDT2 at the Lowry 24 April 2016 andPrickling - NDT2 in Bradford 1 May 2016) and Alvin Ailey (see Alvin Ailey in Bradford 29 Sept 2016 and Alvin Ailey in Bradford 8 Oct 2016) to the Alhambra and Lowry. The Alhambra and Lowry are members of a group of theatres in Great Britain and Ireland known as Dance Consortium that collaborate to bring leading dance companies from around the world to the UK and Republic of Ireland. Their website is worth visiting not just for news of current tours but also for the vast accumulation of articles, videos and other resources on dance companies, choreographers and artists to be accessed through the Features page.
This year, the Dance Consortium will bring two Latin American companies to this country:
There are very interesting companies and I look forward to seeing both.
The Cuban company will present three works that have not yet been seen in the UK: Reversible by Annabelle López Ochoa, The Listening Room by Theo Clinkard and Matria Etnocentra by George Céspedes. Reversible is described by the Dance Consortium website as:
"Hot Cuban passions, sass and wit all meet in Reversible by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. It delves deep into the path of gender matters, sudden changes in relationships, the games, rivalry and pleasure of being opponents and dissidents. To an eclectic soundtrack including music by Jean-Claude Kerinec & Staff Elmeddah, Kroke, Scanner and Eric Vaarzon Morel, Reversible is a captivating comment on gender, spoken in Lopez Ochoa’s trademark quirky style, this time with a Cuban accent."
The Listening Room was partly funded by the British Council as part of the Islas Creatvas collaboration between the UK and Cuba. The music is by Steve Reich and the work is described as "a celebration of expressive and instinctive dancing" with the dancers in headphones responding to an alternate soundtrack of wildly diverse music and text. Matria Etnocentra is said to portray "the tension between the fluidity of music and dance and the regimented nature of daily life in Cuba."
Having travelled extensively through Argentina in 1988 and 1998 I am particularly looking forward to Cherkaoui's m¡longa. According to Wikipedia
"Milonga dance incorporates the same basic elements as Tango but permits a greater relaxation of legs and body. Movement is normally faster, and pauses are less common. It is usually a kind of rhythmic walking without complicated figures, with a more humorous and rustic style in contrast with the serious and dramatic Tango."
Choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui consists of 10 tango dancers from Buenos Aires, two contemporary dancers and a tango band of five musicians. This dance form is enthralling almost hypnotic to watch. Its antecedents are unknown but it developed in the area of Buenos Aires known as La Boca (or "Mouth") which has a history as colourful as the decoration of its houses.
The history of The Golden Ageis almost as fascinating as the ballet itself and could easily be the plot of a ballet in its own right. As Katerina Novikova told cinema audiences briefly in the interval, this ballet was originally about football. It was originally a three act ballet which was choreographed by Vasili Vainonen, Leonid Jacobson and V. Chesnakov and first performed in Leningrad (St Petersburg) at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theatre on 26 Oct 1930.
Wikipedia gives the following information on the plot:
"The ballet is a satirical take on the political and cultural change in 1920s' Europe. It follows a Soviet football team in a Western city where they come into contact with many politically incorrect bad characters such as the Diva, the Fascist, the Agent Provocateur, the Negro and others. The team fall victim to match rigging, police harassment, and unjust imprisonment by the evil bourgeoisie. The team are freed from jail when the local workers overthrow their capitalist overlords and the ballet ends with a dance of solidarity between the workers and the football team."
The score was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich when he was only 24. He wrote a profusion of danceable music as Jean-Christophe Maillot has shown with his masterly The Taming of the Shrew (see Bolshoi's Triumph - The Taming of the Shrew4 Aug 2016). Even I have danced to one of his works, namely Shostakovich's Waltz for Flute, Clarinet and Piano "The Return of Maxim"1937 Op 45 (see The Time of My Life28 June 2014 which Mel reviewed very generously in The Dance DID go on - Northern Ballet Academy Show 201428 June 2014). Apart from being a great composer, Shostakovich was something of a football fan describing the so called "beautiful game" as the "ballet of the masses". Rather more flattering than John Osborne's description of ballet as "poofs' football" (see page 387 of John Heilpern's John Osborne: A Patriot for Us Google Books).
Apparently the original ballet was performed 18 times before it was pulled by the Soviet authorities and never staged again. Shostakovich's beautiful score remained forgotten for many years like The Sleeping Beauty until it was revived in 1982 by Yuri Grigorovich and Isaak Glikman. They produced a new libretto based on the rivalry between Boris, a young fisherman, and the criminal, Yashka, for the heart of Rita, a cabaret dancer which is complicated by the jealousy of Yashka's moll, Lyuska, who competes with Rita for Yashka's attention. The synopsis is set out in some detail on the Bolshhoi's website.
The fascinating part of Grigorovich's plot is that it is set in 1923 immediately after the civil war when Lenin revoked some of the controls of war communism to incentivize agricultural and industrial production in order to feed the Soviet who were suffering a catastrophic famine. That relaxation was known as the New Economic Policy ("NEP"). It achieved its economic objectives very quickly but led to all sorts of inequalities and imbalances and ultimately crime which are the backdrop to the ballet. The NEP was reversed in 1928 after Joseph Stalin came to power and many of those who responded to the incentives provided by the policy were destroyed over the next few years in Stalin's purges.
In their version of The Golden Age, Grigorovich and Glikman created powerful roles for the protagonists, Boris, Rita, Yashka and Lyuska, as well as some great character roles and some spectacular dances for the corps. Simon Virsaladze created some gorgeous sets and costumes for the 1982 production. I caught the tail end of Ms Novikova's conversation with a wardrobe mistress who described how those costumes had been lovingly preserved all those years in the hope of a revival. Audiences were given a glimpse of the workmanship in close ups of the dancers while waiting to take their curtain calls at the end of the show. Grigoroivch appears to have borrowed some of Shostakovich's music from other shows - or perhaps the other way round - for I recognized Tea for Two which ends The Taming of the Shrew at the start of Act II of The Golden Age.
Boris was danced by Ruslan Skvortsov whom I had last seen as "the prince" (otherwise known as Siegfried) in Swan Lake in London (see Grigorovich's Swan Lake in Covent Garden31 July 2016). Nina Kaptsova danced Rita. I think yesterday was the first time I had seen her but I hope it will not be the last. More familiar was Mikhail Lobukhin who danced Yashka. I had seen him before at least in HDTV transmissions. Another face that I think I recognized was Ekaterina Krysanova who was Lyushka.
The choreography had so many breathtaking lifts and jumps not to mention spectacular fouettes,grands jetes en tournant and other virtuosity not only for the principals and soloists but also for the corps that it is hard to single anything out for special attention. However, I loved the first pas de deux between Boris and Rita in Act I where they fell in love and was riveted by Lyushka's passion at the end of Act II where she throws herself at Yashka and is stabbed for her pains. We are used to praising the Bolshoi's dancers for their technique but the four principals are also superb dance actors.
The ballet appeared to receive a rapturous curtain call in Moscow which must have been echoes in cinemas around the world. There was clapping even at the National Media Museum in Bradford, hundreds of miles from Moscow, even though it could not possibly have been heard on the Bolshoi's stage. Our Yorkshire audience floated out of the Cubby Broccoli on a cloud as elated as if we had been there. A wonderful compliment to the engineers of Pathe-Live as well as the magnificent artists in Moscow who brought us that great spectacle.
Standard YouTube Licence Northern Ballet Romeo and Juliet, Alhambra, Bradford 14 Oct 2016, 19:30
I have to be frank. It was the Bolshoi who sold me my ticket to Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet last night with their exquisite performance of The Taming of the Shrew at the Royal Opera House in the summer (see Bolshoi's Triumph - The Taming of the Shrew4 Aug 2016). It was they who turned me into a Maillot fan (see Jean-Christophe Maillot5 Aug 2016 and World Ballet Day: Les Ballets de Monte Carlo10 Oct 2016).
Had it not been for the Bolshoi I think I would have used my precious ballet going weekend to see Ballet Black last night and then hop on a train to London to see the matinee performance La Fille mal gardee today. No disrespect to Northern Ballet which is a fine company but I had already seen its Romeo and Juliet twice last year (see Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way8 March 2015 and Leebolt's Juliet13 March 2015). Fille is one of Ashton's masterpiece which is performed only by the Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet and then not every year.
Now there is a lot of difference between the massive 240 year old company founded by Prince Ursov with all the resources of the Russian state and a mid-size 41 year old company in Leeds and I came to the Alhambra wondering whether I had done the right thing in letting Lise and Colas go for a year or so. I am glad to say that I think I did for Northern Ballet danced very well last night. It was far better than either of the performances that I had seen in 2015 even though the cast was the same it was as the first time that I had seen the show.
Perhaps one of the reasons why yesterday's performance was so good is that they danced in the Alhambra before a Bradford crowd. From the theatre goer's point of view it is the best dance venue in Yorkshire and second only to the Lowry in the North. The Grand at Leeds is all very well but there are pillars and all sorts other obstructions to spoil the view, the bars are crowded and leg room in the cheaper seats is terrible. The Quarry at West Yorkshire Playhouse has none of those disadvantages but its capacity is limited to 750. I also find that a Bradford audience is generally more discriminating and appreciative. The Alhambra is on the circuit for world class touring companies like NDT II and Alvin Ailey. Also, they are that much closer to Manchester and thus more likely to see Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and other visitors to the Lowry and Palace.
The title roles yesterday were danced by Tobias Batley and Dreda Blow. Blow fits naturally into Juliet's role. As I said in Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way:
"She was a perfect Juliet. Playful and feisty. Loving but conflicted. Brave but fearful. Blow is elevated to my pantheon of favourites."
That was still my view of her last night. Batley has to work at Romeo. We are used to seeing him as mature men such as Heathcliff, Marc Antony and Gatsby rather than as a callow, headstrong, teenage boy, but he did work at it and was quite convincing in the balcony and bedroom pas de deux. However, the most arresting scene was Lady Capulet's explosion of rage and that will be the image that I will retain from the show. Hannah Bateman was magnificent in that role. Also impressive was Mlindi Kulashi who portrayed Tybalt as a bit of a thug. Rather unusual perhaps but quite logical when you think about it. Antoinette Brooks-Daw won the crowd's affection as the loyal, long suffering, much put upon nurse. Abigail Prudames was an adorable Rosaline. At least three people including Romeo would still be alive had Romeo stuck with her. Joseph Taylor interpreted Friar Lawrence's role quite differently from Isaac Lee-Baker whom I had previously seen in that role. Maillot had invested some of the authority that in other productions is vested in the duke in the friar's role. Yesterday we saw Taylor as the guardian of the public interest crumble as the corpses piled up from his loss of control.
That brings me back to the reason why I was in the theatre. As I explained in Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way Maillot's production is quite unlike Lavrosky's, MacMillan's, Nureyev's or any other production of Romeo and Juliet and that is because he has rewritten the play. He did very much the same even more successfully with The Taming of the Shrew. He is now working on an interpretation of Midsummer Night's Dream called Le Songe which, despite using Mendelssohn, appears to be as different from Ashton's Dream as his Shrew is from Cranko's and his Romeo and Juliet from MacMillan's. The glimpses of the rehearsal on his World Ballet Day slots were tantalizing. Maillot appreciates Shakespeare and understands him but that does not stop him from taking the occasional liberty with him - and getting away with it.
On World Ballet Day the video showed rehearsals for a new ballet called Le Songewhich was premiered yesterday at the China National Centre for the Performing Arts. The company will move on to Tianjin and Shanghai. The first performances in Europe will take place at the Théâtre National de Nice on 21 and 22 Jan 2017. This ballet is based on Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and uses Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream as Ashton.
One of the ways in which maillot's Romeo and Juliet differed from other productions is the enhanced role he gave to Friar Lawrence and, as you can see from the first of those reviews, that role was danced very impressively by Isaac Lee Baker, Isaac has now joined Les Ballets de Monte Carlo (see his profile on the company's website) and I think I glimpsed him in the rehearsals for Le Songe, He is certainly on the Royal Ballet's video (1 hour 52 minutes) in its Chance to Dance slot. Sadly, we won't get to see Isaac as Friar Lawrence. Northern has not yet announced its cast list for Bradford but we should get someone good judging by the chaps who danced it in Sheffield, Belfast, Woking and Canterbury.
Standard YouTube Licence Screening of the Royal Ballet's Frankenstein, 18 May 2016
I always look forward to my Wednesday evening ballet class at Northern Ballet or the University of Huddersfield and I have turned down invitations to posh receptions in order to attend one or other of those classes before now. Tonight, however, I skipped class to attend the screening of Liam Scarlett'sFrankenstein. I am very glad I did for rarely have I been more excited by a new ballet. I am metaphorically kicking myself for not getting a reasonably priced ticket in the amphitheatre stalls during the Friends' booking window when I had the chance. However, I did the next best thing by watching the HDTV transmission from Covent Garden in the National Media Museum in Bradford, which happens to be the home town of Thomas Whitehead who played a key role in last night's ballet.
As Darcey Bussell noted before the screening most of us know Frankenstein from Hollywood rather than Mary Shelley's novel and fail to appreciate its themes and subtleties. Scarlett has returned to the original in creating his ballet. Very briefly, a young medical student called Victor Frankenstein, grief stricken by the death of his mother in childbirth, becomes obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. In a neurology class in the anatomy theatre a lecturer applies Galvani's experiments with frog legs to human body parts and gets a limb to twitch after a current is applied to the nerve ends. That was possible with frogs but not with more advanced creatures at that time but never mind. That experiment gives Victor the idea that electricity is the life force. Instead of enjoying himself womanizing in the pub like all the other medical students he experiments with stitching together body parts and charging them with electricity. Eventually he succeeds in making a functioning composite cadaver which breaks out of the laboratory and terrorizes the public.
One of its victims is Victor's little brother who is left alone blindfolded for a few minutes by his family. The monster plays with him gently at first but the boy dies of shock on seeing the monster's gruesome form. The boy's body is found by his nurse, Justine, who is accused of murdering him. The second act ends with the poor woman dangling from the gallows which to my mind is the most disturbing scene of the show. In the last act Victor marries his sweetheart, Elizabeth, but the monster shows up at their wedding knocking off first Victor's father, then his best mate Henry and finally Elizabeth. Desperate at the loss of everyone he has ever loved in his life Victor shoots himself. The last scene shows the monster cradling its creator.
This is a tremendous work making enormous demands of every single role player in the story. I suppose the greatest demands are made of the monster danced last night by Steven McRae. "McRae as a monster", I hear you cry. "He's the last dancer I would cast in that role. Ed Watson perhaps or maybe Muntagirov, but McRae is such a sweet, sensitive young man." Well let me tell you, McRae does monsters and how. The make-up and wardrobe department performed a minor miracle in dressing him with horrid gory stitch marks across his face and body. He was as horrible as anything out of Hammer Films. But this was a sensitive monster who was looking for love first from the little boy, then Elizabeth and finally his creator. Not so very far off McRae's other roles I think you will agree.
Federico Bonelli danced Victor Frankenstein. I have long been a fan of this dancer but he rose even higher in my esteem as he developed his character on stage from lost little boy, to swotty undergraduate, obsessed researcher, young master, gentle suitor and in all stages of the ballet tortured soul. The other big male role was Henry who played all round good egg from the moment he befriended Victor in medical school. Like Victor he had no time for drinking, carousing and having a nice time like all other sensibly adjusted students. He was danced last night by Alexander Campbell, and a very good job he did too.
The main female role was Elizabeth danced last night by Laura Morera who was Scarlett's muse in Viscera (see Au Revoir but not Adieu19 Nov 2015. I am a great fan of Morera and once had the pleasure of meeting her and telling her how much I admire her work (see Laura Morera25 Aug 2015). She is a fine actor well as a great dancer. She is a master of detail - remember her little mannerisms as she writes in Victor's commonplace book as he is about to set off for medical school - but also her mid-air rotations as Victor tosses her into the air without really looking at her. It must have been so scary for her to do those turns.
"And Thomas Woodhead? You say he danced a key role." Why yes, indeed, for he was the lecturer who demonstrated the life giving force of electricity to the students and gave Victor the idea for his research. We have all taken classes from lecturers like him. Brilliant. Sarcastic. Frightening for the callow undergraduate. I was reminded of my economic history classes at St Andrews. "Karl Marx was born in 1818 and died - not a day before time - in 1883" delivered in the cultured tones of Morningside "where sex is what the coal comes in."
A ballet like this requires a remarkable score and it was provided by Lowell Liebermann. It was a work of our times - not a pastiche - but it caught the flavour of the period where that was needed. It was one of the most beautiful new works I have ever heard and I long to listen to it again perhaps next time in the concert hall. If anyone wants to get me a present for Christmas I'll have a recording of the score as soon as soon as it comes out on DVD.
Equally impressive were John MacFarlane's designs, particularly his apparatus for generating static electricity and the electrodes for applying it to humans. This was one of the most realistic props I have ever seen on stage in any kind of show. And the gallows scene too which would have made me throw up had I visited the Kash before the show rather than after.
There is so much to write about this production but I have a living to earn and nobody pays me to write ballet reviews. There are still some seats available for the last three performances in London. If you can make the show then go. It will soon be staged in San Francisco. I'd say its worth the 9 hour flight if you miss it here and I am seriously contemplating a trip there.
Liam Scarlett is a remarkable talent. First, Vicera. then No Man's Land and now this. He is still a very young man. Imagine what he will be doing in 20 or 30 years time.
(c) 2016 Nederlands Dans Theater, all rights reserved Reproduction licensed by the company
NDT2, Mixed Programme, Alhambra, 30 April 2016
I saw Nederlands Dans Theater 2 at the Alhambra last night and enjoyed their performance in Bradford even more than their show at The Lowry (see NBT2 at the Lowry 24 April 2016). Yet again my favourite was van Manen's Soloand once again I was dazzled by the virtuosity of Gregory Lau but I also appreciated the other works a little more, particularly Sad Case, Mutual Comfort and Cactiand I was impressed by the other dancers, especially Katerina van den Wouwer and Alice Godfrey. Some Other Time was omitted from the Bradford programme but otherwise it was the same as the one in Salford.
Despite its title there was nothing particularly sad about Sad Case. The Latin American music was exuberant and the pace fast. Voices could be heard speaking Spanish: a count down, then something that sounded like a dialogue from one of the Spanish language TV soaps of the kind you often find on the hotel telly when you have just landed from a Transatlantic flight, an ecstatic "Ay, yai, yai, yai" and finally an "ay, yai, yai, yai" with the stress on the final "yai". The audience exploded in mirth. Thoughts of the breakfast scene from When Harry Met Sally perhaps. This was a work that involved the whole company. It was vibrant and fast. I wish I could see it again soon.
Edward Clug's Mutual Comfort followed after the first break. close intense dancing by van den Wouwer and Godfrey with Benjamin Behrends and Lau. I particularly liked Milko Lazar music with its incessant, compulsive beat. It was a short but powerful work. I had not fully realized just how good it was first time round as I had been waiting for Solo. This time I think I did it justice.
Solo was as exciting in Bradford as it had been in Salford and it raised the biggest applause. The house was less than full yesterday but you would never have guessed that from the noise that they made. Yet again it was Lau who raised the biggest cheer.
As is Salford, the whole of the last part was taken up by Cacti. It was introduced by the droning of an American male voice which might have come from an anthropology lecture at a US junior college or, worse, a low budget TV show. I could not make head or tail of what he was saying but that was probably the choreographer's idea. There were scenes of the whole company on wooden platforms conducting what seemed to be some meaningless ritual. Then a cackle of laughter, more simian than human. Then a dialogue between a man and a woman on dividing their assets including a lifeless cat which fell from the ceiling, The American voice could be heard at the end. "This is the end", "I know this is the end", "I know" with added frustration as the dancers kept dancing. It was a fine work to a fine score - particularly the Beethoven - and some dramatic scenes such as this one towards the end.
(c) 2016 Nederlands Dans Theater, all rights reserved Reproduction licensed by the company
Sadly, the company has finished its run in the North and is now moving on to the Hippodrome, Plymouth, Nottingham, Brighton and Sadler's Wells. Most of the young dancers in NDT2 will graduate to the main company soon but they will be replaced by a new intake whom I look forward to seeing soon.
Van Manen appeared at those performances because the Junior Company include one of his works in their tour each year. This time it was was Trois Gnossienneswhich he created for the Dutch National Ballet on 20 Oct 1982. The music that he used for this ballet is by Erik Satie, the same composer who inspired Sir Frederick Ashton to create Monotones. That is another ballet I love very much.
Copyright 2016 Dutch National Ballet, All rights reserved
Reproduction licensed by kind permission of the company
They work very well together. Earlier in the performance Princic had danced a masterly Ballet 101and Chapski had charmed us in the Pas de Six. My review of the whole show is Ballet Bubbles 16 Feb 2016.
Audiences in this country will gain an opportunity to see more of van Manen's work when the Netherlands Dance Theatre tours the UK next month. I hope to catch NDT2 in Bradford and at The Lowry.
Last Sunday I took another butcher's at The Bolshoi's performance of The Nutcrackerof 21 Dec 2014. I reviewed it last year in Clara grows up- Grigorovitch's Nutcracker transmitted directly from Moscow21 Dec 2015 so this was literally a case of déjà vu. The company is actually dancing The Nutcracker on Sunday with Semyon Chudin in the title role. So why could we not see that performance in England? My guess is that the cinemas think they can make more money from showing the latest Star Wars and if that is the case they are almost certainly right. Love a duck! So much for popular taste. May the force be with us!
I enjoyed the show a bit more second time round as I knew what to watch for. Having seen Rodkin on the stage in St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's production of La Bayadere in September (see Blown Away - St Petersburg Ballet Theatre's La Bayadere24 Aug 2015) I expected fireworks and that was what we got - particularly in the final pas de deux with Nikulina, Russian ballerinas can be rather grand, remote if not slightly frosty ladies. Nikulina is sweet and sparkly. She is as exciting to watch as any other Russian principal dancer but she can also act. She looked genuinely frightened in the fight between the Nutcracker and King Mouse. She looked as though she needed a hug and a cuddle.
I saw the video at the Pictureville cinema at the Bradford Media Museum. It was quite full for a Sunday afternoon screening. On leaving the cinema I overheard one of the denizens of Bramhope or Huby remark to her companion "I'm seeing The Nutcracker again you know. By the "Royal" Northern Ballet" (sic). Now there's a thought.
Standard YouTube Licence Northern Ballet, Wuthering Heights, Alhambra, Bradford 21 Nov 2015
I inserted a photo of Top Withens near Haworth into my review of Northern Ballet's performance of Wuthering Heights at the Sheffield Lyceum as it is said to be the inspiration for Emily Brontë's novel. Haworth is in the metropolitan district of Bradford and the Alhambra is the nearest theatre to that township. No doubt that is one of the reasons why Northern Ballet premièred David Nixon's ballet in that theatre to less than ecstatic reviews at the time (see Ismene Brown's Lost in the Moors25 Sept 2002 in the Daily Telegraph and Judith Mackrell's Wuthering Heights25 Sept 2002 in the Guardian).
"I could well be alone in my commentary of this ballet. I cannot be representative of the good ladies who rushed to the front of the stage to offer a standing ovationat the close of this performance. Then perhaps this review be considered a response rather than critique – and here is the enigma of Wuthering Heights and the creative challenge of this particular story ballet."
And concludes:
"I know it: I have been unduly harsh on Northern Ballet’s Wuthering Heights – a ballet that may please many, many people. I hope it does. My response is indeed less critical judgement than personal experience. That is the thing with Wuthering Heights and with Heathcliff, who we really shouldn’t try to tame."
A lot of choreographers other than Nixon have tries to tame Wuthering Heights. Cathy Marston has created one for the Berne Ballet which you can see in this YouTube video. Deborah Dunn has created Nocturneswhich is said to be based on the novel (see Paula Citron's Cathy and Heathcliff in dance12 Jan 2011 The Globe and Mail). Kader Belarbu made Hurlevent for the Paris Opera Ballet in 2002 which was reviewed by Patricia Boccadoro for Culture Kiosque 22 April 2002. Although Northern Ballet's version seems to do well enough in the English regions, none of those productions have really taken off.
Like Carmen which I discussed in Au Revoir but not Adieu19 Nov 2015 Wuthering Heights has been very difficult to transpose into dance and probably for the same reason. Everyone loves Bizet's score and Mérimée, Each has his or her own interpretation of those works which seem to be violated by the choreography even of the calibre or Petit, Alonso or Acosta. It is the same with Brontë:
"The foundations of music, structure, costume, and above all, choreography, bore atone I disagreed with. This was not my Wuthering Heights. They lent to a feeling of romantic melodrama in classical gowns – when everything about Wuthering Heights for me is about being hungry and not having washed for days. Heathcliff – my Heathcliff – is full of dominance, violence and childhood hurt – yet the worst he does in Act I is knock a shuttlecock off play and drum on the table."
My own review of Nixon's work was much kinder than Emma's and I think that is because I am not really a fan of the novel and had no preconceptions for him to knock. I prefer Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Sir Walter Scott and William Makepeace Thackeray to the Brontës any day of the week and if Nixon had made a ballet out of Emma or Persuasion my reaction might well have been the same as Emma's.
All that circumambulation is an introduction to the fact that I was at The Alhambra yesterday for the last performance of the current revival of Wuthering Heights with the same cast that I had seen in Sheffield. That was Northern Ballet's A Team: Tobias Batley as Heathcliff, Martha Leebolt as Cathy, Hironao Takahashi as Edgar, Hannah Bateman as Isabella and Pippa Moore as Ellen. The last performance of a flagship work by the company's stars after a successful provincial tour should have been brilliant and it was certainly OK. Bateman, now perhaps the strongest female dancer in the company, showed her considerable talent and expertise as a dancer and actor as the injured Isabella. It is a complex role that perhaps only she could do well. Takehashi showed his experience and authority in his role. Light, energetic and effervescent, Rachael Gillespie was a delight to watch and she was aptly rewarded in the reverence including a "brava" from me roared from the back of the stalls. Those three dancers made my evening.
Batley and Leeboilt were good too as they always are but their performance lacked fire. It was like watching World Ballet Day or even company class. Old ladies like me who sacrifice their widow's mite for ballet (now increased by 133% - see The Increasing Prince of Friendship14 Oct 2015) expect to float when we leave the theatre as I did on Friday when I saw Ballet Black (see Ballet Black's Return to Leeds21 Nov 2015) or on 12 Nov 2015 when I left the Linbury after seeing Phoenix (see The Phoenix Soars Over London13 Nov 2015). The reason I floated was that Ballet Black and Phoenix danced as though they were inspired as did Bateman, Takehashi and Gillespie yesterday. I swapped a ticket in the centre of row B of the Stanley and Audrey Burton for yesterday's performance of Ballet Black for one at the side of the top of the auditorium for Friday so that I could see the last performance of Wuthering Heights in Bradford. Had it not been for Bateman, Takehashi and Gillespie I think I would have regretted the exchange.
Dark Arteries opened with a brass band on stage. I don't suppose I was the only member of the audience to expect a march or hymn but that is not what we got. The music began softly and built up steadily. Lots of percussion and staccato. Girls in long blue dresses entered followed by the men also in blue. Complex, frenetic movements accompanying Gavin Higgins's score. The bandsmen were not the Rambert's regular musicians but Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band. There were three moods in the dancing, Two lively ones at the beginning and end with some intricate duets in the middle. Performed by figures in red the duets were soft and poignant. Only later when I read the commentary on Rambert's website did I realize that Dark Arteries had been inspired by the miners' strike. I remember the strike as though it were yesterday. It is hard to think it occurred over half a lifetime ago.
Earlier in the year I saw Shobana Jeyasingh's La Bayadère - The Ninth Lifeat the Linbury. That work blended contemporary and Indian classical dance to a score by Gabriel Prokoviev. Terra Incognita was another collaboration by the same choreographer and composer. It also seemed to include what to my untrained eye were Indian dance movements. But it had quite a different feel to La Bayadère - The Ninth Life and perhaps it was intended as an antithesis. La Bayadère - The Ninth Life focussed on the arrival of Indian dancers in Paris and the sensation that they created in Europe which led in time to the Indian themed ballet. The title Terra Incognita (unexplored territory) suggests exploration. Maybe the arrival of Europeans in Asia and the far greater and more disruptive impact that they made on the recipient culture.
Visually the work was dramatic. Both men and women were in kilts - the men in mauve and the women in orangey brown. In my notebook I wrote "cats' eyes" which I think must relate to a scene change where there were reflections in the backdrop and the reminiscently feline dancing. I also wrote down "Dane Hurst". I can't remember why he impressed me more that day than he usually does but he did. That is not to say that the other dancers were not impressive for they were. Readers can get a flavour of Terra Incognita from this YouTube clip.
The triple bill was called Rooster - the title of the last of the works - and that was the treat of the show. This is a lovely period piece full of nostalgia for people like me (and looking around the theatre the bulk of the audience who grew up in the sixties). I remember those primary coloured shirts and jackets and mini-dresses. The piece starts with Little Red Rooster with the boys moving proudly like, well, the cock of the roost. It then proceeded to Lady Jane and the other Stones classics. I last saw Rooster at The Lowry just over a year ago and loved it then (see Rooster ................ :-)4 Oct 2014). I think I enjoyed it even more last Friday. The work has been in Rambert's repertoire for over 20 years but it was not created for that company. Bruce choreographed it for the Geneva Grand Theatre Ballet which I mentioned last Sunday (see Geneva Nutcracker25 Oct 2015).
On the 7 Nov 2015 Hannah Rudd will lead a workshop on Ruby Tuesdaywhich is easily the most lyrical of the dances in the piece. Imagine dancing in that long, red dress! The workshiop takes place on the stage of Sadler's Wells Theatre between 10:00 and 12:00 and is open to intermediate to advanced dancers aged 16 or over. If only I were good enough! For those who are good enough to take part, here is the link to the booking page. The cost is £15.
Embedded pursuant to the standard YouTube licence
In the past I have been rather critical of the Royal Opera House's live ballet transmissions to cinemas. In The Royal Ballet's Swan Lake - that's more like it25 March 2015 I wrote:
March's Swan Lake was much better and yesterday's Romeo and Julietwas just right. It was as good as anything that has been transmitted from Moscow and I congratulate Ross MacGibbon and his team on the screening.
A large part of the reason for last night's success was the engagement of Ore Oduba. He is a skilled TV presenter in a way that Darcey Bussell is not. He has an easy manner and conveyed the sense of excitement and occasion of the man on the Clapham smartphone so much better than the stream of gushing tweets that had irritated me so much on previous occasions. Oduba also freed up Bussell for some important interviews. There were some interesting contributions from Lady MacMillan and Donald MacLeary whom I saw last year at the London Jewish Cultural Centre (see A Minor Miracle - Bringing Le Baiser de la fée back to Life2 June 2015). I was also impressed by the interview with Garbiel Prokofiev who wrote the music for Shobana Jeyasingh's La Bayadère - the Ninth Life (see La Bayadère - The Ninth Life29 March 2015). I also enjoyed the conversations with Koen Kessels and Kevin O'Hare as well as the snippets form Steven McRae, Sarah Lamb and others.
The great advantage of live transmissions is that you get to see the detail of the ballet from the close ups. These include facial expressions such as the shame on the faces of Romeo and his mates when they are ticked for brawling off by Escalus, the parties' disdain when they are forced to reconcile, Tybalt's permanent sneer and the vengeful grief of Lady Capulet. Cinema audiences also got a chance to examine the props such as Juliet's poppet in Act I and the vial of liquid that would suspend her animation which she approached with such enormous trepidation. The close ups also allowed me to concentrate on important parts of the choreography such as the courous en pointe as Juliet recoils from Paris the significance of which I had never appreciated on all the occasions that I have seen it on stage.
McRae and Lamb were magnificent in the title roles. I have always liked them in every ballet in which I have seen them perform. A special word of praise is due to Gary Avis who is another of my favourites. He danced Tybalt and was excellent. All were good - especially Alexander Campbell as Mercutio, Ryoichi Hirano as Paris, Elizabeth McGorian as Lady Capulet, Genesia Rosato as the nurse, Alastair Marriott as Friar Lawrence and Bennet Gatside as Escalus. It was also great to see Nicholas Georgiadis's rich designs again. They are as awesome now as they were when I first saw that ballet four and a half decades ago.
Romeo and Juliet is not a short ballet but seldom has an evening passed so quickly. Finally, although I promoted the screening in Centenary Square (see Ballet for Everybody in Centenary Square4 June 2015) I actually saw it in the Pictureville cinema at the National Media Museum a few hundred yards away. There may well have been a party atmosphere in the Square and other big screens up and down the country and you can get in for free but it was a bit chilly on the first night of Autumn, the seats are hard and the screen and audio leave a lot to be desired. I like my comfort at my time of life and the Museum with its bar, restaurant and convenient parking is one of the most civilized venues I know anywhere in the world.
Postscript
Alison Penfold who lives in London drew my attention to the fact that the big screen in Centenary Square was out of action on Tuesday night. In response to my post:
"There was a quite a lot of price variation in Bradford where there was a big screen in Centenary Square and folk could see the show for free."
She wrote:
"Except they couldn't: I believe there was some problem and the screening was cancelled?"
That was news to me and I was only a few hundred yards from Centenary Square. It turns out that Alison was right. The Royal Opera House tweeted
The #BPBigScreens at Centenary Square Bradford has been cancelled due to technical difficulties. Apologies for the inconvenience ^H
It is a great shame that that happened. Bradford has many different communities and cultures and Tuesday would have been a great opportunity to introduce ballet to folk who would never otherwise see it.
Inala, Sadler's Wells, 10 July 2015
Isn't it strange that you can see exactly the same show with exactly the same casts in performances just days apart and yet have two completely different experiences. I saw Inalain Bradford on 25 June 2015 (see Inala at the Alhambra26 June 2015). I reported that the show was met with "a standing ovation and a lot of whooping and cheering." There was nothing like that when I saw the show again in London on 10 July 2915. A lot of polite, even enthusiastic clapping but a much more restrained reception.
That does not mean that the London audience was any less appreciative. The differences in audience reactions were discussed by Marcelo Gomes in a recent question and answer session. He explained that a quiet audience in Japan is a good sign because everybody is concentrating. In Brazil it is the reverse because a contented audience would be buzzing. London audiences are very undemonstrative compared to those in the North because they think they have seen everything. .
Although I liked Inala when I saw it in Bradford I enjoyed it rather more second time round. There are a number of reasons for that. Having seen the show before I knew what to look out for. Another reason why I liked it better is that I was able to buy a programme in London and could therefore follow the show. A third reason is that I sat in the second circle in Sadler's Wells and could see the the lighting displays and the patterns of the dancing on the stage which I had missed in Bradford because they were not visible from the stalls.
As in Bradford the best part of the show was Ladysmith Black Mambazo's singing. Except for the last one where the singers waved goodbye it was quite impossible to guess the meaning of the songs because they were sung in Zulu. The advantage of the programme is that the "Score" page summarized the songs . Some of those summaries seem very strange to a modern British audience:
All those cattle I used to pay the dowry should be paid back, When will the cows come back again?
That song was answered by
"The cows will be returned. The bridge has failed. They will be returned. All of them."
The dancing expressed the music of each song but did not relate directly to their subject matter and perhaps that was a missed opportunity. A ballet could have been created for each of those songs and individual dancers could have represented a character in the song. For instance, the theme of Warmuhle Intombi is
"You are so beautiful young lady! It's time to choose the way you go and the one to be with!"
That suggests a pas de deux or perhaps a pas de trois and that may even have been what we got but my recollection of the dancing is that it was all abstract and that all the dances formed one single choreographic piece.
Although the show is marketed as a Zulu ballet it is more musical theatre than ballet. It is an opportunity to hear a beautiful style of singing which is not often heard in this country and to see some exuberant dancing. If you like that sort of thing then this show is for you. But don't go to the show expecting ballet for that is not what you will get.
