Northern Ballet Romeo and JulietLeeds Playhouse 20 Jun 2025 19:30
Few people, if any, understood Romeo and Juliet better than Christopher Gable. He and Lynn Seymour had been selected by Kenneth MacMillan to premiere the title roles in MacMillan's new ballet. They were replaced by Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn only because the US impresario Sol Hurok thought that American audiences would flock to see Nureyev and Fonteyn in preference to Gable and Seymour. I saw both Nureyev and Fonteyn and Gable, and Seymour in the late 1960s or early 1970s. While I admired Nureyev and Fonteyn very much, I preferred Gable and Seymour in MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet.
Many years after the premiere of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet, Gable became the Artistic Director of the company now known as Northern Ballet. He commissioned a new version of Romeo and Juliet for his company, choosing Massimo Moricone as his choreographer and Lez Brotherston OBE as his designer. Unlike the productions of Krzysztof Pastor and Sir Matthew Bourne, Gable's Romeo and Juliet follows Shakespeare pretty closely, though it has its own features. Each act begins with a clap of thunder. The second act ends with the fall of a beaded curtain representing a hailstorm. Gangs of Capulets dance as cats making soft mewing sounds, while the Montagues present as birds. Mercutio's death throes are quite different in Gable's ballet from his agonies in MacMillan's, where he mistakes a sword for a musical instrument. Juliet witnesses the sword fight between Romeo and Tybalt in Gable's version. I saw Gable's ballet in Sheffield on 4 Apr 2024 and reviewed it in Moriconi and Gable's Romeo and Julietthe next day
I watched Gable's Romeo and Juliet again at Leeds Playhouse on Friday, 20 Jun 2025. One big difference between the performance that I saw in Sheffield last year and last Friday's is that the cast danced to Northern Sinfonietta last year, but to a recording by the Orchestra of the Slovak National Theatre on Friday. I have to say that I liked the sound of the Slovak orchestra very much. If a company has to dispense with live musicians, a recording of the Slovak National Theatre musicians was probably the next best choice. But ballet is a three-way communication between dancers, musicians and audience. Something is lost when a conductor and orchestra are absent.
Romeo was danced by Joseph Taylor on Friday. He is currently the company's only premier dancer. It goes without saying that he would have understood his role well. He performed it with virtuosity and flair. Juliet was Alessandra Bramante, who happens to be Italian. She brought a freshness and energy to that role. Mercutio was danced again by Jun Ishi. He first came to my attention in that role last year. I was impressed with him then, and I remain impressed this year. Harry Skoupas was a menacing Tybalt this year. Last year he had been Paris. Harriet Marden was a passionate Lady Capulet,
At the reverence, several members of the audience rose to their feet. I counted 20 dancers at the curtain call. That's not a big cast, but they gave the impression of a big full-length production.
Northern Ballet will perform Christopher Gable's Romeo and Juliet at Leeds Playhouse between 18 and 21 Jun 2025. In my article on the Royal Ballet's rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, I wrote that I had never seen a better Romeo than Gable though others have come close (see Attending My First Friends' Rehearsal31 May 2025). As I also wrote in A Christmas Carol - A Reflection of a Golden Ageon 19 Jan 2025, it was Gable who led me to Northern Ballet Theatre nearly 40 years ago when I saw him in A Simple Man. When he became the Artistic Director of Northern Ballet, Gable directed and devised a production of Romeo and Juliet for Northern Ballet in 1992. As Federico Bonelli acknowledged in his interview with Dominique Larose, that production is special to Northern Ballet and its audiences.
I last saw that production in Sheffield in 2024 and I reviewed it in Moriconi and Gable's Romeo and Julieton 5 Apr 2024. As regards the title of my review, I should explain that Massimo Moriconi was the choreographer whom Gable appointed to create his Romeo and Juliet. There is one important difference between the show that I reviewed and next week's performances in Leeds. The music for next week's shows will be recorded. According to Northern Ballet's website, the recording was made by the Orchestra of the Slovak National Theatre led by Mario Kosik which is probably the next best thing to live music. Everything else seems to be the same.
In his interview with Larose, Bonelli referred to the many other versions of Romeo and Juliet that he had danced. One of the versions with which he may well be familiar is Rudi van Dantzig's for the Dutch National Ballet, as he danced for that company before coming to the Royal Ballet. I have not yet seen that production, but van Dantzig's choreography with designs by Toer van Schayk and an orchestra conducted by Koen Kessels is likely to be exceptional. Romeo and Juliet will be performed at the Music Theatre (aka the Stopera) from 14 Oct to 11 Nov 2025. It is perfectly possible to fly to Amsterdam, watch a matinee and return the same day.
While I am delighted to see Gable and Moriconi's Romeo and Juliet again, Northern Ballet also has a version by Jean-Christophe Maillotwhich I hope they will continue to perform. As I said in one of my reviews of that work, it is different but in a good way.
Royal Ballet Romeo and Juliet(Rehearsal) Royal Ballet & Opera, 4 March 2025, 12:30
I have been a Friend of the Royal Ballet & Opera off and on for nearly 60 years, but I had never attended a Friends' rehearsal before 4 Mar 2025. That is because I have spent most of my life outside London, and Friends' rehearsals tend to take place on weekdays during working hours.
On 23 Feb 2025, I was invited to give a talk to the students at King's College at 18:30 on 4 Mar 2025. As this was an evening event, I felt justified in taking the afternoon off in lieu. I checked the Friends' page of the Royal Ballet & Opera's website. There seemed to be a few spare seats scattered about the auditorium, but the website would not let me book any of them. I called the box office and was told that the rehearsal was sold out, but a few returns might come back on sale. That proved to be the case and I secured the very last standing room only place at the very top of the auditorium.
The view of the stage from that eyrie was surprisingly good. I have always enjoyed good eyesight, and I could recognize some of the more distinctive dancers and follow their movements, though obviously not their expressions. Had I been casting the show, I would have selected Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales for the title roles. It was they whom we got. Of all the principals in the Royal Ballet, they are the ones who most closely look the part. I remember Christopher Gable and Lynn Seymour in those roles when I first took an interest in ballet. Though I have never seen a better Romeo than Gable or indeed a better Juliet than Seymour, several other dancers have come close. Hayward and Corrales are among the closest.
The rest of the cast was also impressive. Christopher Saunders was an imperious Lord Capulet full of gravitas and swagger. Also full of swagger was Benet Gartside as Tybalt. Even though everyone in the audience knew the outcome, Tybalt's sword fights with Mercutio (Daichi Ikarashi) and Romeo were gripping. Mercutio's death throes as he stumbled around the stage, mistaking his sword for a lute or mandolin, were poignant. The role of the nurse is often overlooked in many productions, but it is important. It is she who shares Juliet's excitement at her first grown-up ball. She delivers Juliet's note to Romeo and is mobbed by the Montagues for her pains. She accompanies Juliet to Friar Lawrence. She tries to defend Juliet from a bigamous marriage. Kristen McNally discharged that role perfectly.
It had been some years since I had last seen the Royal Ballet's Romeo and Juliet, and one of the features that I remember from previous times was a gorgeous backcloth by Nicholas Georgiadis that reminded me of the work of Leon Bakst. I was looking out for that backcloth, but couldn't spot it. That made me wonder whether Georgiadis had redesigned the set or whether I had imagined that backcloth.
As always, the orchestra was magnificent. The conductor on this occasion was Koen Kessels.
I was unable to return to London to see a live performance of Romeo and Juliet at Covent Garden, but I did see a recording of the live broadcast on 23 March 2025 at the Leeds Showcase. That was another polished production with a different cast. Fumi Kaneko was Juliet, Vadim Muntagirov was Romeo, Benet Gartside was Lord Capulet, Ryoichi Hirano was Tybalt, Francisco Serrano was Mercutio, Thomas Whitehead doubled as Friar Lawrence and Lord Montague and Olivia Cowley was the nurse. Kessels also conducted the orchestra.
As I said in Swan Lake at the Leeds Showcaseon 30 May 2024, a screening is not the same as a live performance (probably because there is no interaction between artists and audience) but there are compensations. We could follow Juliet's emotions through the expressions on Kaneko's face. It was clear from her interview that she understands Juliet very well. It was also good to hear Lady MacMillan. The Friends' rehearsal combined with the film was the next best thing to seeing the ballet live on stage.
Although I read in Dance and Dancers about a performance at the Royal Northern College of Music by a new company called Northern Dance Theatre when I was an undergraduate at St. Andrews, it was only in 1987 that I saw them for the first time. I could not have had a better introduction because it was Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man with Christopher Gable as L S Lowry and Moira Shearer as the artist's mother.
They were two ballet heroes from my childhood. Shearer had retired before I took an interest in ballet though clips and photos of her remained long afterwards. Gable, on the other hand, was one of the biggest stars in the 1960s when I started to attend the ballet. I saw him several times and admired him greatly.
At about the same time as I saw A Simple Man or perhaps shortly afterwards Gable was appointed Artistic Director of the company now known as Northern Ballet. As I said in my review of Moriconi and Gable's Romeo and Juliet on 5 April 2024, "[s]ome of my favourite works were created while Gable was the Artistic Director of the company and I have always regarded that time as a golden age." I added that it gave me great pleasure to see Romeo and Juliet again and that I very much looked forward to seeing A Christmas Carol again in November.
I actually saw it on the last day of the year and I was not disappointed. We had an excellent cast:
I have waited a long time to see this show again. The company danced to packed houses most nights in Leeds. I hope it will keep its place in the repertoire.
Northern Ballet Romeo and JulietSheffield Lyceum Theatre 4 April 2024 14:00
Northern Ballet has two fine productions of Romeo and Juliet in its repertoire. One was created by Jean-Christophe Maillot which I reviewed in Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good wayon 8 March 2015 and Romeo and Juliet after the Shrewon 15 Oct 2016. The other was choreographed by Massimo Moricone and directed and devised by Christopher Gable. Moricone and Gable's was premiered in 1992 to considerable critical acclaim but it had not been performed for many years. It was revived in Leeds last month and is now on the second stage of a nationwide tour. I watched the matinee performance of the ballet in Sheffield yesterday.
There are many different versions of Romeo and Juliet inthe world's ballet companies Some like Lavrovsky's and MacMillan's follow Shakespeare quite closely. Others like Pastor's and Sir Matthew Bourne's leave Shakespeare way behind. Moricone and Gable's followed the play faithfully as can be seen from the "Romeo & Juliet Story" page on Northern Ballet's website but there were some original details that enhanced the understanding of the story. In Juliet's bedroom, the nurse reminds Juliet that she is growing up by pointing to changes in her body. In Act II Mercutio is provoked into challenging Tybalt because Tybalt drags a young woman by her hair. I do not know whether those touches were suggested by the choreographer or director but Gable will have developed an intimate understanding of Romeo and Juliet from dancing the lead role with Lynn Seymour in MacMillan's work.
Yesterday's cast included both premier dancers of the company as well as my first choices for the lead roles. When I had the opportunity to learn Juliet's dance at KNT's choreographic intensive in 2016, our teacher Jane Tucker, who had danced in the same production of the ballet, set the scene as follows:
"You are 12 years old. This is your first ball. You are so excited you can hardly contain yourself. All eyes are on you. You want everybody to be you."
I have seen many Juliets in my time including Fonteyn and Seymour and while they have dazzled me I have never been able to think of them as 12-year-olds. Sarah Chun did remind me of that little girl bubbling with excitement and playfully teasing her nurse as she prepared for that first grown-up ball, Similarly, Jonathan Hanks with his youthful features was ideally cast for Romeo. In the play, those kids grow up almost overnight and so did Chun and Hanks in the ballet. They are both remarkable dance actors. I really warmed to them. I see that in her bio Sarah Chun said that Juliet would be her dream role. Yesterday, she lived that dream and she was brilliant.
An important role but one which is often discounted is the nurse or as we would describe her nowadays the nanny. She appears in all three acts and she has to project all kinds of emotions from playfulness in the first bedroom scene and she romps around with her young charge to fear as she tries to protect Juliet from her grief-stricken and angry parents. Her role was danced by Harriet Marden. She has been in the company for some time and I must have seen her countless times but this is the first time I have mentioned her in my reviews but I am sure it will not be the last. I shall now be looking out for her. She showed considerable talent as a character dancer. I loved the way she crossed herself before she grabbed Juliet's note from between the thighs of one of Romeo's buddies.
It was a treat to see Abigail Prudames, one of my favourite dancers in the company. I have watched her progress through the company's ranks with great satisfaction. She danced Lady Capulet with exceptional energy and passion. Her anger upon learning of Tybalt's death in his duel with Romeo was palpable.
Tybalt was danced by Joseph Taylor (another artist I have long admired) who portrayed his character perfectly. Having met him in real life I know that he is anything but the privileged, headstrong, thuggish young blade who received his comeuppance after bullying young women and knifing Mercutio when he was off his guard but Taylor projected that character faultlessly, He is a great dance-actor as well as a virtuoso.
One other artist who deserves special mention is Jun Ishi who danced Mercutio. Again this is the first time that I have mentioned that artist in my reviews but it will not be the last as I shall follow his career with interest in the future. The audience gasped with relief as he rose to his feet after the stabbing. We relaxed as he took a swig from a bottle. We despaired as he sank lifeless to the floor.
Everybody in the cast performed well and if I mentioned every member by name this review would resemble a telephone directory. All I can do is to congratulate everyone in the show on a magnificent spectacle.
It was of course not just the dancers who made it a good show. I have already mentioned Gable and Moricone but I should not forget John Longstaff There were several details in the music which reinforced the story which I had not noticed in other productions. I am not sure whether the peel of thunder immediately before the overture was part of the orchestration or Gable's direction. I was a little discombobulated when I first heard it but it made perfect sense in the context of the hail storm at the end of Act II.
I must also praise Lez Brotherston's designs. The opening scene featured a fragment of the maxim "Amor vincit omnia" which of course is the theme of the ballet. Love did not quite conquer all from the point of view of the young lovers though maybe it did eventually in the embrace of Lords Capulet and Montague just before the curtain fell. I learnt for the first time from the programme that many of the costumes from the original show had been destroyed or damaged in the flood. I know that Peter Pan had been lost but I was not aware that Romeo and Juliet had also been affected. It required a major effort to restore the ballet and it says a lot for a company that undertook that work.
I first got to know Northern Ballet Theatre when Christopher Gable danced with Moira Shearer in The Simple Man. Some of my favourite works were created while Gable was the Artistic Director of the company and I have always regarded that time as a golden age, It gives me great pleasure to see Romeo and Juliet again and I am very much looking forward to watching A Christmas Carol in November.
Dratdard YouTube Licence Northern Ballet 50th Anniversary Celebration Gala 4 Jan 2020 19:00 Leeds Grand Theatre
Last night's gala was everything for which I had hoped and a great deal more than I had dared to expect. It was one of the best evenings that I have ever spent in a theatre and by far the best evening that I have ever spent in Leeds. It was so much better than the company's 45th-anniversary gala in March 2015.
The evening consisted of excerpts from 18 ballets some of which are among my favourites. A few of those ballets I had not seen for decades. Several of those excerpts were danced by favourite artists such as Federico Bonelli and Marge Hendrick. The excerpts were interspersed with speeches and videos from dancers, choreographers, directors and others who have contributed to Northern Ballet over the last 50 years. A few of those recollections touched me personally because they recalled events that have become part of my life.
Having seen Elaine McDonald on stage and having met Peter Darrell several times (see Scottish Ballet 20 Dec 2013) I was close to tears when Hendrick danced Darrell's Five Rückert Songs to Mahler's haunting music. My association with Scottish Ballet goes back to my second year at St Andrews where I was taught my first plié as well as a lot of other things that qualified me to make a living (see Ballet at University27 Feb 2017). Scottish Ballet was the first company that I knew and loved and it is still the company that I love best. I swelled with pride as Christopher Hampson entered the stage and discussed the two companies' kinship.
My other personal highlight was A Simple Man with Jeremy Kerridge and Tamara Rojo as the painter and his mother. That was the first work by Northern Ballet that I ever saw. I attended its performance shortly after returning to Manchester to take up a seat in chambers. My late spouse and I had been regular ballets goers in London and remoteness from Covent Garden, Sadlers Wells, the Coliseum, The Place and the Festival Hall seemed unbearable. It was Gillian Lynne's brilliant choreography with Christopher Gable and Moira Shearer in the leading roles that reassured us. We could see that there was a ballet company in the North that was just as good as Nick Hytner's Royal Exchange and the Hallé at the Free Trade Hall. I have followed and supported all three of those great Northern institutions (albeit not always uncritically) ever since.
The evening started with the party scene from The Great Gatsby which I reviewed at its premiere and on tour. After the opening, the company's director, David Nixon, appeared and greeted the audience. He paid tribute to his predecessors and all who had contributed to the company in various ways over the years. He singled out Carole Gable who also appeared in a video and the composer Philip Feeney (see Central School of Ballet's staff biographies). The very early years of the company were recalled by photos of the dancers and press clippings that flashed on the screen. There were also some personal reminiscences from the 1970s. The later years were covered in much more detail, There were videos from Robert de Warren, Michael Pink, Patricia Doyle. Several of the company's leading dancers were recalled from retirement including Tobias Batley, Martha Leebolt and Dreda Blow who now live on the other side of the Atlantic. The nostalgia was palpable - just like Noel Coward's Cavalcade.
Some of the works in Northern Ballet's repertoire were danced by guest artists from other companies. Federico Bonelli of the Royal Ballet partnered Abigail Prudames of Northern Ballet in the balcony scene from Massimo Moricone's Romeo and Juliet. Momoko Hirata and César Morales of the Birmingham Royal Ballet danced the wedding night scene from Nixon's Madame Butterfly which I have always regarded as Nixon's masterpiece. The Royal Ballet's Laura Morera and Ryoichi Hirano, another two of my favourite artists, danced the countryside scene from Jonathan Watkins's 1984. Greig Matthews and Amanda Assucena danced Rochester and Jane in the proposal scene from Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre.
It was good to see Central's students, Elise de Andrade and Matteo Zecco, in a scene from Cinderella bytheir school's founder, Christopher Gable. As a fan of Phoenix Dance Theatre, I was delighted to see the magnificent Vanessa Vince-Pang (yet another favourite) and Aaron Chaplin in Sharon Watson's dance chronicle Windrush: Movement of the People. Space and time do not permit me to mention everything in detail. Other works included
All danced delightfully and I congratulate them all.
The finale was the last scene of A Midsummer Night's Dream which is Nixon's other work that I regard as a masterpiece (see Realizing Another Dream15 Sept 2013). The whole cast took to the stage including Kenneth Tindall. He was one of my favourites in the company and I thought I would never see him dance again. At the end of the gala, Nixon recited Puck's speech which ends the play:
"If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends."
It is supposed to be uttered by a dancer. Kevin Poeung said those words when I last saw the show. But the words seemed entirely appropriate as they dropped from Nixon's lips. A shower of gold confetti rained from the ceiling. Hardly anyone remained seated and there were not many dry eyes.
Standard YouTube Licence
Theatre goers generally and ballet goers in particular will be said to learn of the death of Dame Gillian Lynne. Although she will be better known for her musicals, Cats and Phantom of the Opera, I shall remember her for three reasons.
First, her choreography of A Simple Manstarring Christopher Gable and Moira Shearer. That was the first time I saw Northern Ballet shortly after I returned to the North to take a seat in Manchester chambers. My late spouse and I were regular ballet goers and I was a Friend of Covent Garden. Though we looked forward to occasional visits to Leeds and Manchester by touring companies we missed the Royal Opera House, Sadlers Wells and The Coliseum. I had read of the Northern Dance Theatre (as Northern Ballet was then called) in Dance and Dancers when it was founded but I never expected much from it. Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man was a revelation. It was every bit as good as anything I had seen anywhere else in the world.
As a native Mancunian I was bloated with pride that it had been achieved by a Manchester company. After seeing that work I began to follow Northern Ballet. In my humble opinion A Simple Man has never been bettered though other great ballets were created by Christopher Gable and more recently Cathy Marston. It was Dame Gillian's masterpiece that attracted me to the company and it is one of the reasons why I have continued to support Northern Ballet through Friends' subscriptions, donations and other ways for more than 30 years.
The second reason I shall remember Dame Gillian is that she recreated Sir Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals for the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2014 (see A Second Miracle23 Oct 2014). She had been a member of the original cast. She said in The Inspiration which was reprinted in the programme: "There are very few people left alive from that 1944 creation and not one of us remembers a step." However, as I said in my review, Lynne re-created the ballet to Bliss's music in the style of Helpmann and it certainly looked authentic to me. In my My Personal Ballet Highlights of 201428 Dec 2014, I wrote:
"My favourite ballet of 2014 was Gillian Lynne's re-creation of Robert Helpmann's Miracle in the Gorbals for Birmingham Royal Ballet which I was at Sadler's Wells in October. I had seen Helpmann dance with Frederick Ashton in Cinderella and he also presented the gala to Sir Frederick which I saw when I first became interested in ballet. Miracle in the Gorbals broke new ground in many ways just as its almost exact contemporary Appalachian Spring did in the USA. Even though Lynne's production was a re-creation rather than a revival its performance was something of a miracle in itself and a joy to behold."
The third reason I shall remember Dame Gillian is a charming story that Sir Ken Robinson told about her in a famous TED talk. I discussed it in Dance is just as important as Maths17 Aug 2014. When she was a little girl in the 1930s Dame Gillian was thought to have a learning disorder because she was lacked attention and was disruptive in class. Her teachers referred her mother to a specialist in such disorders who gave her an opportunity to dance to the radio. Sir Ken continued:
"And when they got out the room, he said to her mother, "Just stand and watch her." And the minute they left the room, she said, she was on her feet, moving to the music. And they watched for a few minutes and he turned to her mother and said, .Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn't sick; she's a dancer. Take her to a dance school.'"
Dame Gillian's mother heeded that advice and the result was miraculous. In Dame Gillian's words:
"I can't tell you how wonderful it was. We walked in this room and it was full of people like me. People who couldn't sit still. People who had to move to think. Who had to move to think. They did ballet; they did tap; they did jazz; they did modern; they did contemporary."
As I remarked about the specialist: "What a remarkably perceptive, far sighted, enlightened man he was. And what a wonderful mother."
I am sure all readers will join me in sending sincere condolences to Dame Gillian's family, friends and connections.
Ballet Central 2018 Tour 29 April 2018, 19:30 Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds
It’s been a turbulent time for Ballet Central since their unimaginable announcement via social media that their tour vehicle and its contents had been stolen. The vehicle contained everything from their production equipment to over 100 unique handmade costumes. Being able to see the tour and how much work had gone into making this a professional production then to hear of their plight was pretty shocking. Since then those that follow Ballet Central will know that much of what was stolen had been retrieved and also, thanks to the generosity of many they’ve managed to raise several thousands to help pay for replacements.
I saw Ballet central perform, for the first time I might add, at the Stanley & Audrey Burton theatre in Leeds.
I think it’s fair to say that many will know of Swan Lake even if never having had the pleasure of seeing it. What Jenna Lee gave us in Black Swan was something very different, yet still referencing the classical ballet loved by so many with Tchaikovsky’s music and the beautiful swans (who looked marvellous in their black tutus). The mood was much darker, echoing the film The Black Swan. In this version however, it was not the ballerina that experienced the hallucinations, it was the Prince, confused and a little disoriented by what he was experiencing. Ayca Anil danced the principal role. Her technique seemed solid, the développés clean with extensions reaching the heights that we see in professional ballet companies of today. I thought her ports de bras were lovely, as were the swans' dancing in the corps, with their elegant swan arms, and I thought the acting of her character expressed the sultriness befitting of a temptress.
The second piece in the programme was a complete contrast of contemporary choreography. At times there was so much happening on the stage between the 10 dancers I didn’t know who to watch however there were dancers that stood out with their stage presence alone. As with most, if not all art, it’s subjective; contemporary is not a style that I personally favour, however if its premise is to showcase the movement of body and mind in fusion then this choreography does that. The Guardian (Luke Jennings to be precise) wrote of the piece when it appeared on stage:
“Muse too intently on notions of embodiment and you stop seeing the living bodies in front of you. They're the story, ultimately.”
It was a challenging piece for young dancers but on comparing clips from the original, they all performed with confidence and flare, speed and agility given that these students are on the cusp of their professional careers, potentially joining companies with both classical and contemporary repertoire, they need to be able to show their depth and breadth of skill in both styles. This choice of piece allowed them to do just that. There were three dancers that, for me anyway, particularly shone. Again, it was as much about their stage presence as their technique and quality of movement. Luckily one of those dancers has their photograph in the programme so easy to identify.
Act I closed with Valley of Shadows by MacMillan. Yet another personally unknown piece, though reading the synopsis it has very sad and dark undertones, the programme describing it as “the fate of an Italian Jewish family under fascism, Nazi occupation and the horrors of the death camps.”
Being a cast of four, the spotlight was on all the dancers. The cast had the fantastic fortune of being coached by Alessandra Ferri and Guy Niblett, who were original cast members when it was first performed at Covent Garden in March 1983. What a luxury for these dance students to inherit the experience and knowledge of these dancers to have it passed down to them. We had already seen Ayca Anil in the opening excerpt so her performance was assured, this time it allowed the male dancers the chance to show off their skills, in particular their partnering skills and they all performed with aplomb.
After the interval of 20 minutes, Act II opened with an excerpt of TheSleeping Beauty (Fairies Prologue). Gone were the tutus of the classic work, instead we saw costumes worthy of comic superheroes, of beautiful colour and imagination. It was a showcase indeed for the six dancers on stage and each deserved and duly received acknowledging applause from the audience, appreciative of the individual performances. Even the Princess Aurora as a baby in her cradle received applause in her own right as the crying baby which only added to the characterisation, humour and lightness of the whole piece.
The finale of the night was Christopher Gable's Cinderella and the audience were treated to a 30 minute shortened piece of this well known fairy tale. Despite the story depicting the ill treatment of Cinderella by her step mother and children, the performance felt just as much a celebration and in some ways echoed the journey that a dancer takes throughout their student life. The celebratory dance by the cast of apple pickers and wedding guests was light, airy and quite joyous to watch. In particular the green colour in the costumes reflecting the fresh apples that they had harvested that day expressed the emotion and worked well on stage, as if to say that the whole cast had now come of age in their early training careers and ready to advance into professional performers and spread their wings far and wide. Both the young and older Cinderella were emotive and expressive and i’m sure they, and all the touring company of 2018 will have careers to be proud of.
I’d like to give a mention to Rishan Benjamin and Harris Beattie as my own personal ones to follow in the future. There was another young woman in Far that unfortunately i’m unsure of her name. Looking at the cast list it was possibly Hikari Eumura (but perhaps Ballet Central would like to confirm?).
Finally, congratulations to all the performers and all those behind the scenes for making a thoroughly enjoyable evening of dance theatre.
Standard YouTube Licence Ballet Central, Mixed Programme, Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre 28 April 2017 Ballet Central has aways been good and, having met Christopher Marney at several Ballet Black and London Ballet Circle events, seen him speak, and, most importantly, watched him work I expected great things from his first season as the company's artistic director. I had been dazzled by Marney's dancing as Count Lilac in Sir Matthew Burne's Sleeping Beauty. I have been awed by his choreography, particularly War Letters which he created for Ballet Black. On Friday I discovered his prowess as an artistic director. All I can say without gushing hyperbole is that Friday's mixed bill greatly exceeded my highest expectations.
We were presented with a varied programme arranged in three parts:
the triumphant return of Solor in the first act of La Bayadḕre;
Christopher Bruce's fascinating Mya; and
Michael Pink and Christopher Gable's spine-chilling Dracula.
After another interval, the programme ended with a major part of Sir Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling, awitty but slightly disturbing reworking of La Sylphide.
Lee's ballroom scene was a beautifully crafted classical piece though with original reinterpretation of some of Prokofiev's most popular music. It is very dramatic and very clever. In that regard, very like Marney. It was very different from the work that appears on Lee's YouTube channel and website which
"..... pushes the boundaries of classical ballet, by fusing world-class ballerinas with more modern art forms such as break dancing and beat boxing, providing a world of professional bespoke entertainment for any event."
Cira Beautiful Misfitsfeaturing one of my very favourite dancers from Ballet Black and Confluxwith a beatbox Swan Lake are examples. Commissioning Lee to revisit Shakespeare and Prokofiev where Lavrovsky, Cranko and MacMillan already walk tall and create a 20-minute work to open the show was an imaginative and risky but, as it turned out, spectacularly rewarding step. I long to see the rest of the story. I wonder how Lee would rework the bedroom scene when Romeo or the conflict of emotions when Juliet learns that her husband has dispatched Tybalt. I do hope someone commissions that talented choreographer to finish the ballet.
Lee had the perfect Juliet in Amy McEntee. She seemed born for that role. An actor and storyteller at least as much as a dancer. she enchanted us with her knowing glance to Romeo and galvanized us with her expression of horror as Romeo squared up to her brother. Central has trained a disproportionately large number of my favourite dancers and choreographers, including Marney himself. I think we saw several future stars on Friday one of whom is definitely McEntee.
Dzierzon's Sleepless was a complete contrast. Beginning with a huddle of dancers in subdues lighting the work exploded into vigorous movement. Dzierzon had 10 dancers in that work - 9 on stage and one at the piano. My seat was at the far right hand of the second row next to the pianist and though I tried to concentrate on the stage I could not help my gaze returning to the composer and pianist Phil Feeney. His score was vibrant and exciting as indeed was his playing of it. But those on stage were great too. Representing the spray can wielding shadows of my youth who transformed every carriage of the New York subway, those kids darted around the stage one scribbling letters on the shirts of the others. A real frisson of subversion.
Yet another change of mood with Liam Scarlett's elegant Indigo Children to the music of Philip Glass. A work created for Ballet Black - Beautiful Ballet Black, as I like to call the company - it was lovingly re-staged by Cira Robinson and Damien Johnson. McEntee shone in this work too as did Craig McFarlane who had been her Romeo.
Although I have only seen two complete performances of La Bayadḕre I love that ballet. I have even tried to dance little bits of it. Last Autumn I saw the Dutch National Ballet's performance of Makarova's version with the magnificent Sasha Mukhamedov in the title role. I had expected Ballet Central to perform the entry into the kingdom of the shades which is probably the best-known scene from the ballet. Instead, Marney chose the triumphant return of Solor to Golkonda which was an opportunity to show off the corps as well as Kanon Kihara and Jaume Ruiz who danced the principal roles. A word of commendation to Dante Baylor who designed the costumes. I loved those outfits: trousers and turbans for the men and pantaloons and scarves for the women.
On Friday I had complained that we had been deprived of Marney when I wrote All that was missing from this Evening's Performance was a Ballet by Marney ......In fact, I had not read the programme carefully and, in any case, I should have recognized his mark. It was a masterly restaging of a much-loved work. May we have some more of that beautiful arrangement, please?
Christopher Bruce's Mya turned out to be my favourite work of the evening. Three dancers clad head to foot in tightly fitting, somewhat shapeless, almost colourless gowns moving to Arvo Pärt'sSpiegel im Spiegel(literally mirror in the mirror). But what could it mean? The costumes reminded me of the chrysalis of a butterfly and there was a touching moment when the limbs of one of the dancers began to emerge from the constraint. An analogy with the human condition? The composer is Estonian whose nation has emerged like a butterfly from the Soviet thrall. Doesn't matter. The music is haunting. The choreography compelling. The performance enthralling.
Central was founded by Christopher Gable who was the artistic director of Northern Ballet when I returned to Manchester. As a Mancunian in exile, I had read about Northern Ballet (then known as Northern Dance Theatre) in the dancing press but had never actually seen any of its performances. I thought I would miss Covent Garden, Sadler's Wells, the Coliseum, the Place ....... I did not do so at all, They continued to exist 200 miles away, of course, but on my doorstep was a wonderful company treating us to a succession of delicious works in that golden age of Northern Ballet. We were reminded of that golden age by Pink and Gable's Dracula. Not an easy watch but an enthralling one as Harker is first seduced then savaged by vampires. Yet another star in the making, Matthew Morrell, dominated the stage. Tall and menacing he induced teal fright, however, many times I reminded myself that this was only theatre.
The last work of the evening was act 2 of Sir Matthew Bourne's "romantic wee ballet" a Highland Fling. "Romantic" indeed with a woman hobbling about the stage her costume drenched in blood. Well, stage blood of course. It was Sir Matthew's take on La Sylphide which is one of the oldest ballets in the modern repertoire. I have often said that it ought to be our national ballet as it is set in Scotland. Bourne kept Løvenskiold's score but gave it a new twist portraying James as a drunken Glaswegian in a Highland glade cavorting with winged and kilted sylphs. I'm not sure what happened to Effie or Madge but Sir Matthew arms James with a pair of garden shears instead of a poisoned scarf with which he does even more damage. The sight of the wounded sylph was the second tummy turning moment of the evening, Dracula being the first.The sylphs get their own back on James after mourning their murdered sister for he sprouts a pair of wings in the last scene.
Marney chose this piece well. I have not always been a fan of Sir Matthew Bourne but I loved this work. I can well understand why Scottish Ballet currently performs Highland Fling but not the 1836 original. Much of the appeal of this work lies the designs as well as Bourne's quirky humour. Lez Brotherston, who had designed Scottish Ballet's, appears to have inspired Baylor who designed Ballet Central's production.
Sir Matthew staged that work himself. An enormous compliment to Marney but one he well deserves. Bourne would not be where he is today without an uncanny knack of recognizing talent when he sees it. He saw it in Adam Davies who danced James and Brittanie Dillion, his sylph. I don't know where they come from but they looked pretty Scottish, in fact totally Glaswegian to me. Especially the sylph with the suitcase wandering sheepishly hand in hand with James. So much to see in this work.
Ballet Central is making only one other appearance in the North on this tour. In Whitehaven on 13 May 2017 which I can't make because I am in Move It at The Dancehouse in Manchester. However, I am determined to see this year's mixed bill again. Even though I shall have to travel I just gotta see those fine young artists again.
"Thinking of Christopher today 18 yrs on and proud to continue his work everyday #GableLegacy."
The "Christopher" Marney had in mind was, of course. Christopher Gable. He founded the Central School of Ballet which has a performing company called Ballet Central of which Marney is artistic director. I admire Marney's work very much so I tweeted
"And Gable's work could not be in better hands @chrismarney. Missing him too."
Christopher Gable became artistic director of Northern Ballet in 1987 which was just after I returned to the North of England to practise at the Manchester bar. He held that appointment until his death on 23 Oct 1998 (see Christopher Gable on Northern Ballet's website). it was during his directorship that my late spouse and I started to follow that company. In that time Gable created or commissioned some of my favourite works for that company.
According to Northern Ballet's website, Nixon is working on a new ballet called The Little Mermaidwhich is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale and the company has commissioned Casanovafrom Kenneth Tindall and The Boy in Striped Pyjamasfrom Daniel de Andrade. I hope to learn more about those works when Nixon appears at the London Ballet Circle on 28 Nov 2016 to talk to Esme Chandler (see the Eventspage of the Circle's website). This is quite a challenging time for the company as two of its "premier" (that is to say, principal) dancers are developing careers elsewhere. I shall be interested to hear what, if anything, Nixon has to say about that as well.
Those who want to hear Nixon speak should make their way to the Civil Service Club on Great Scotland Street off Northumberland Avenue next to the Nigerian embassy before 19:30. The meeting will be open to the public at a charge of £5 for members of the Circle and £8 for everybody else. The meeting will take place on the 1st floor and there is a bar downstairs which serves hot meals to those attending the Circle's meetings. Very handy for those like me who have a train to catch from King's Cross and I particularly recommend the fish and chips. The nearest underground stations are Charing Cross and the Embankment.
As the Circle has set out Nixon's career in some detail I shall not embarrass him or weary my readers by repeating it beyond noting that he has achieved much on both sides of the Atlantic and that he enjoys a formidable reputation as a choreographer. director and dancer. I would have attended Nixon's talk anyway but my resolve has been reinforced by his remarks on Front Row(BBC Radio 4) last night. He was interviewed by John Wilson with Luke Jennings of The Guardian in a short section about 15 minutes into the programme entitled New, but always old, ballet.
Wilson began by playing a recording in which Tamara Rojo had opined that dance needed to change in order to survive in a digital age in the context of Akram Khan's Giselle, remarks which were vaguely endorsed but not developed by Jennings. He then turned to Nixon and suggested that he was "playing safe" reminding the audience that Northern Ballet was dancing Beauty and the Beast in Norwich. Nixon replied with the entirely reasonable point that ballet needs an audience to survive. In answer to Jennings's contention that ballet needs to be relevant to its age and Wilson's remark that Beauty "was not breaking any moulds" he made another equally valid point that Beauty and the Beast appeared just after the credit crunch and contained plenty of allusions to austerity that were raw in his audience's experiences in 2011. He added that ballet is a language that takes dancers 8 years to learn which can be used to tell any story and express any emotion and that there was still room for classics as well as new work.
Jennings, whose review of Mary Skeaping's Giselle had been headlined A Giselle to cry for14 Jan 2007 (see English National Ballet's other Giselle22 Oct 2016), seemed to argue that works like Akram Khan's Giselle with its elements of Kathak and contemporary would attract whole new audiences. With all due respect I just don't see it. It may be innovative but not in the way that Nijinsky's L'Après-midi d'un fauneand Le Sacre du Printempswere over 100 years ago. If audiences want experimentation they will go to NDT or Rambert or, on another plane, Sir Matthew Bourne. If they want cultural interaction they will go to Alvin Ailey or indeed Phoenix in the same building as Northern Ballet who do it so much better. Akram Khan's Giselle is interesting, it is not without merit and is certainly worth seeing but let's get a sense of proportion. It is not the choreographer's or the company's best work and it is nowhere near the best Giselle.
Classical companies like Northern should stick to what they do best which is to present fine theatrical experiences following a 400 year classical tradition that are nevertheless still relevant to modern audiences. That does not preclude classical companies from creating abstract masterpieces such as Chromaor Angels in the Architecturebut there must be balance by which I mean there must always be room for Petipa and Ashton. Having heard Nixon yesterday, I think he understands that. It is for that reason that I say that Gable's Northern Ballet (like Ballet Central) is in very good hands.
I arrived home in the early hours of this morning after a diversion via Leeds because I missed my connection from Wakefield owing to a late departure from London. Leeds has much to commend it not least its adoption of Northern Ballet but its attractions are far from obvious at 23:15 in the evening.
My visit to London had not been entirely a pleasure trip. I had to give a course on Intellectual Property Law and Fashionin the City between 09:30 and 17:00 yesterday which was followed immediately afterwards by a VoIP con with lawyers in London and the United States. I shuffled into King's Cross trundling heavy equipment and papers as well as a lady's typical accoutrements for a night at the theatre and a day's business with minutes to spare before the advertised departure only to find that my service was not even in the station.
Nevertheless I had a great time in the Smoke and that was largely thanks to the performance of Cathy Marston's Jane Eyrewhich, as you will note from my review, was the best new work I had seen from Northern Ballet for yonks. The fact that it was so good should surprise no-one for Marston is an important choreographer. She was Associate Artist at the Royal Opera House between 2002 and 2006 Artistic Director of the Berne Ballet between 2007 and 2013 and the footage on her YouTube channel is amazing. The only surprise to me is that Jane Eyre, which ought to be a flagship work as it towers over 1984 and just about everything else that the company has done since the days of Christopher Gable, was launched in Donny and is being traipsed round Richmond (which is at the end of the tube and awkward to reach from most parts of London) and places like Leicester and Stoke on Trent. A work like Jane Eyre could easily have filled The Grand (if not the Wells) not to mention The Palace in Manchester, the Festival in Edinburgh and The Mayflower in Southampton.
Doubtless there is an explanation and I am not complaining as I know Richmond very well having grown up in Molesey and attended school in West Kensington. My school was just across the Talgarth Road from the Royal Ballet School and one of its students used to catch our train to Barons Court. I can't remember her name and have often wondered what became of her. It was good to return to the theatre on the Green where I have seen many pantomimes.
I didn't buy a programme on Wednesday as I found it was exactly the same as the one I had bought last March for the Simon and Anthony show. I have since had a chance to read the interview with Marston, which confirmed my surmise that the "D-Men" were demons. It also has a lovely photo Gavin McCaig and Abigail Prudames with Marston in rehearsal.
After the show I reflected on its success with a bife de lomoand a glass of Malbec at the Buenos Airesrestaurant in The Square. I also found Barreworks not far away and took a peak at one of the classes upstairs. The studio where the class took place was spacious, light and well equipped studio and the students seemed to be having fun but I did not stay long as there was nobody on reception and I did not want to distract the instructor. However, I would love to sample one of the classes on another visit and I shall try out its on-line workouts in the meantime.
The only shadow over my visit to Richmond was that a child or young woman in the seat next but one to me was taken ill during the curtain call. She grasped the lady next to me shouting "Mum", "Mum", "Mum". Her companion asked for an ambulance and I passed that request onto an usher who acted with commendable alacrity and efficiency. The patient left her foot behind in her haste and I handed that to the usher after the reverence. I feel so sad for the patient and her party. They had just seen something splendid and this attack must have marred their evening. I wish them all the very best.
Author Sgt. Radford, No. 2 Film and Photographoc Unit Source Wikipedia
Ballet Central, Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, 28 April 2016
When I first saw Chris Marney's War Letters for Ballet Blacknearly three years ago I wrote:
"War Letters, which took up the whole of the second act, brought all the dancers together. It opened with the voice of Kwame Kwei Amah reading the words of a soldier's letter to his sweetheart rejoicing at their love. The mood changed with a poignant pas de deux between a wounded, gassed or shell shocked soldier in pyjamas and his lover who arrived with smiles and left with a broken. Next came a dance to the music of Glenn Miller. Four soldiers met four girls on the dance floor. Three of the girls were asked to dance but the fourth was ignored. She tried to attract the boys' attention but to no avail. The second reading came from Thandie Newton comparing throwing off a lover to the loss of a heavy coat - but then regretting the loss of warmth. This analogy was taken up by the choreographer as the boys tried to lend her their overcoats. The scene ended with the girl shrouded with the soldiers' coats. Finally, there was the voice of the wartime radio presenter John Snagge announcing "Victory in Europe". The last scene is of the artists together which I reproduced in my previous post. Home came the boys nursing their injuries. This was not the first ballet on the horror of war but I still found it a very moving work."
I saw the same company dance that work again in the Stanley and Aubrey Burton Theatre six months later:
"Christopher Marney's War Letters is a very moving piece and it resonated with the audience in Leeds last night even more than it had done in London. Possibly because it was danced in poppy season. Two movements brought many including me close to tears. The hospital visit to a seriously wounded soldier and the Winter coat. Beautiful choreography giving every dancer an opportunity to show what he or she can do."
Yesterday I saw the young dancers of Ballet Central dance that work and found the work even more poignant than before. I think it is because the dancers are so young - exactly the age of so many of the boys who were called up and the girls who were left behind - and the painstaking attention to detail. The boys wore British uniforms and the girls wore their hair exactly as their grandmothers (or even their great grandmothers) would have done. I was born well after then end of the second world war but remember bomb sites, amputees and even some rationing. I was reminded of my parents' reminiscences of war. This performance spoke to me in a way that previous ones had not done.
All credit then to the artists: Holly Girdham, Emma Hancox, Mai Ito, Mia Lambuschagne, Seren Williams, Valerie Yeo, Jaspar Arran, Cian Hughes, James Parratt, James Roxby-Brwn, Mark Samaras and Joseph Vaughan. I particularly enjoyed Mai Ito's performance of the girl on the side, a role that Kanika Carr created for Ballet Black. Mai Ito danced that charmingly - playful at one moment, petulant the next, and always flirtatious.
Although it was the chance to see War Letters again that excited me it was not the only work that delighted me. I enjoyed all the works that the company danced last night but three impressed me in particular: Christopher Gable's Celebration which opened the show, Sharon Watson'sRepetition (2) Change and the Pas de Trois from Paquita which rounded off the first part of the show. Of those three works it was Celebration that I enjoyed the best, possibly because it had been created by Gable.
I first saw Christopher Gable when he was with the Royal Ballet. Many years later I saw him in Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man for Northern Ballet. He was artistic director when I started to follow Northern Ballet and created my favourite ballets for that company. Celebration,a gorgeous classical work reminded me of all that. After the dancers had presented themselves there was a delightful pas de deux, a virtuoso piece by the men, a joyful succession of duets and so on. The music was provided by the composer, Philip Feeney, in person. The work was staged by Carole Gable who is Central's ladies' ballet tutor and rehearsal coach.
Carole Gable also staged the Pas de Trois which was performed skilfully by Mai Ito, Kanami Dano and Mark Samaras to Minkus's music. This requires virtuosity and grace from each of those three young dancers which they displayed in abundance.
Like her TearFallwhich I reviewed in The Phoenix Soars Over London13 Nov 2015 Watson's Repetition (2) Change was a science lesson as well as dance. Two sets of dancers, some male others female, clad in almost identical red and black gowns, wove around each other in seemingly random patterns. According to the programme notes "the fascinating intricate world of DNA is placed under the microscope" in this work. I could not quite work out was whether the red and black dancers were supposed to be different letters of a sequence, DNA and RNA or something else. Watson was in the auditorium but I did not get a chance to ask her. I was however gratified to find that the piece had been sponsored by Susan Dalgetty-Ezra of the London Ballet Circle. The work was staged by our very own Sandrine Monon of Phoenix.
The other works that I enjoyed were Leanne King's duet Insinuare danced by Elizabeth Medway and Joseph Vaughan to Feeney's music and Sara Matthews's energetic Superstruct, also to a score by Feeney.
It was a very good programme though perhaps a little less ambitious than last year (see Dazzled3 May 2015). Also, while there were many impressive young dancers nobody stood out in the way that Mthuthuzeli November did last year. On the other hand War Letters was wonderful. In performing that work think I saw Central at its very best last night. The company will move on to Uppingham, Newbury, Chipping Norton, the Royal Automobile Club, Bridport, Eastleigh, Margate, Wedmor, Bristol and the Stratford Arts Centre.
Ballet Central, Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds 2 May 2015
Every year at about this time the final year students of Central School of Ballet set out on tour. They call themselves Ballet Central and they are good. I saw the class of 2013 at The Lowry and was very impressed (see Central Forward25 March 2013). I like to see young dancers at the start of their careers because they are full of energy and hope. That is why I support Ballet West in this country and the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet in the Netherlands. I particularly like to see Ballet Central because so many of my favourite dancers and choreographers trained at Central. When the 2015 tour started the dancers at Northern Ballet who had trained at Central tweeted their good wishes. They seemed to be a very large part of the company.
Yesterday Ballet Central came to the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds. Their visit clashed with the last appearance of Kenneth Tindall as a principal of Northern Ballet in Wuthering Heights at Milton Keynes (see Au Revoir rather than Goodbye29 April 2015). Tindall, who trained at Central, is one of my favourite dancers and I was torn. "You can see Ballet Central any time" urged Mel, "this is the last time you can see Kenny." She added that he would be partnering Julie Charlet as Cathy. The trouble is that one can't see Ballet Central any time because this year's students will scatter to the four winds. Many will go abroad. I have been lucky enough to see Tindall in several performances in the last year or so and I shall be seeing The Architect again next Saturday. I opted for Central to see the stars of the future some of whom may well dance in Tindall's ballets. I think a fine choreographer will understand that.
I am glad I chose to stay in Leeds because the theatre was packed. Northern Ballet has a special connection with Central because the company's artistic director Christopher Gable founded the school. I spotted several familiar faces from both Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre in the audience. Ballet Central acknowledged the connection first by performing Gable's Blue Pas de Deux from his 1993 production of Cinderella to Philip Feeney's gorgeous score. We actually had Feeney at the piano throughout the show. Also, they danced Code by our own Sharon Watson, artistic director of Phoenix.
The evening began with Four by Christopher Hampson. Hampson is another of my favourite choreographers particularly since be became artistic director of Scottish Ballet which I have followed ever since the late 1960s when I was an undergraduate at St Andrews (see Scottish Ballet20 Dec 2013). I am a Friend of that company and it has a special place in my affections. In the programme notes Hampson wrote:
"The piano work by Graham Fitkin in bursting with energy and I've been waiting a long while (since my student days) to find the right moment to create it. Finding four dancers at Central that can match the energy and drive of the four hands of the piano meant that I had found the time and the place to create Four."
Hampson certainly found the right dancers in Sayaka Ishibashi, Julie Nunes, Ryan Brown, Yoshimasa Ikezawa and Marcus Romanelli, Clad in simple black and purple leotards designed by Richard Gellar the ballet began with solos by each of the men followed by each of the women momentum building up all the time. They all came together as the pace accelerated. It was the best possible start for the show.
The momentum was maintained by Bradley Shelver'sDuet from Scenes danced energetically by Londiwe Khoza and Mthuthuzeli November to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. You can catch a bit of the choreography on the choreographer's showreel. There was a lot of clapping and slapping and even a roar from November. An insert in the programme explained that they were from Cape Dance Company in South Africa on an 8 week residency at Central. These fine young dancers were exciting to watch and I hope that they will find some reason to stay, or at least make frequent visits to, this country.
By contrast the Blue Pas de Deux from Cinderella was flowing and lyrical. Danced beautifully by Kanako Nagayoshi in sparkly blue evening dress and shoes and Ruaidhri Maguire in tails this piece had me close to tears. I remember Gable and miss him so. Northern Ballet now has a new Cinderella by David Nixon which is also beautiful (see Northern Ballet's Cinderella - a Triumph!27 Dec 2013 and Cinderlla - even better30 Nov 2014). But what wouldn't I give to see Gable's version again.
The first part of the evening was brought to an end with a great performance of Watson's Code. Ishibashi, Khoza, Brown and November were in that work as well as Diana Patience and Kai Tomiaka. Again, that was thrilling to watch. I am a great fan of Watson and can't see enough of her work.
The second part of the evening was started by Kit Holder'sHopper which, I see, was supported by Central Friends one of whom is Susan Dalgetty Ezra who chairs the London Ballet Circle. To understand the ballet you need to know that Edward Hopper was an American artist who painted everyday scenes of American life much in the way that his near contemporary L S Lowry did here, albeit in a very different style. I can think of no better introduction to his work than this video by the US National Gallery of Art. In the programme notes Holder wrote:
"the ballet extrapolates the scenarios portrayed in some [of] his most well known paintings bringing to life characters otherwise frozen in time."
This ballet reminded me very much of Gillian Lynne's A Simple Man which was a study of Lowry (see Northern Ballet's "A Simple Man"14 Sep 2013). Just as many of the matchstick men came to life in Lynne's work so Hopper's subjects did in Holder's. Brown danced Hopper while Lydia Mackenzie danced Jo who must have been his wife, Josephine Nivison, who was also a painter. Summer Eveningwas danced by Nunes and Connor Taylor, Conference at Nightby Nagayoshi, Maguire and George Kyaing and Chop Suey byBrianna Hicke and Kyomi Ishubashi. This is the second work by Holder that I have seen recently. The first was To Fetch a Pail of Water which was part of Ballet Black's triple bill at The Linbury (see Ballet Black's Best Performance Yet17 Feb 2015).
The next work was the grand pas de deux from Gorsky's La Fille mal Gardée which is very different from the Ashton version with which we are so familiar (see The Best Fille Ever 18 April 2015). For a start it uses different music: Ludwig Hertel's score instead of Lanchbery's but it is just as delightful to hear. There was plenty of scope to show off Ikezawa's jumping and Sayaka Ishiboshi's charm on pointe. It would be nice to see the Russian version more often and I have encouraged one British company to stage it.
The second part was rounded off with Christopher Bruce'sMorning and Moonlight to the music of Benjamin Britten. Folk are very rude about Britten's score for Prince of the Pavilions (see Lear with a Happy Ending - Birmingham Royal Ballet's Prince of the Pagodas 30 Jan 201431 Jan 2014) though I like it well enough for it was chosen by Cranko. In any case Britten's music was just right here. I loved the choreography executed brilliantly by Kyomi Ishibashi, Nagayoshi, Nunes, Maguire, Taylor and Tomika.
The last part of the programme was devoted to Christopher Marney's Scenes from a Wedding. I expect a lot from Marney and I drive literally all over the country to see his work. Last year I got into a lot of trouble with one of the regulars on a forum to which I subscribe occasionally when I wrote that Chris Marney is my favourite living British choreographer. He retorted with a long list of living British choreographers the intention no doubt being to take country mouse from Huddersfield down a peg or three. A number of other subscribers (all Londoners incidentally) chimed in. Being a lawyer I chose my words carefully. I didn't say "best" for who am I to judge and I qualified "favourite" with British for my favourite living choreographer has got to be van Manen. Nor did I say favourite of all time because that is Cranko. But I am prepared to defend everything else. I've seen a lot of ballet over the last 50 years and I must have learned enough in that time to form an informed opinion. Marney reminds me of Cranko and the exciting thing about him is that he is still a very young man with bags of potential. I think there is every chance that he will go as far as Cranko and maybe further. I expected Scenes to be good and I was not disappointed.
It was a lovely, narrative ballet about a man in love. He was danced by Andrei Teodor Iliescu. He had a lovely girlfriend in Megan Pay clad in red. He bought her a ring and proposed to her. But she wasn't ready. Neither were Kyomi Isgibashi, Lydia Mackenzie and Nunes whom he approached on the rebound. But one girl was ready though she did not care much for the groom. She was danced by Patience. They weren't right for each other. They squabbled in bed. She wanted to sleep. He did not. They fought all the way to the church. He had his stag night with Kyaing, Maguire and Tomioka and she her hen night. Just at the last moment the girl in red turns up and they married. There thus is one less case for the Family Court.
Feeney provided the music, Gellar the costumes and Ed Railton the lighting.
Witty, lyrical and above all acutely expressive of the music it was Marney at his best. It was a tour de force, the icing on the cake, the very best of a succession of wonderful ballets. I can't think of enough superlatives.
Ballet Central will be in Margate on Friday and them Newbury next week. Sadly they are not touring Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland but even if you live in those parts of the UK or in some remote corner of England get yourself to your nearest venue to see the show. They are making only one more visit to the North on 29 June 2015 when they will be at The Lowry. If you want to see some of the stars of the future here's where you should train your telescope.
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