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Readers of this blog will know that I have a particularly high regard for Sarah Kundi. Although I must have seen her several times when she was with Northern Ballet she first came to my notice through the YouTube video of Depouillage in which she danced with Jade Hale-Christofi. It was that film that led me to Ballet Black (see Ballet Black's Appeal12 March 2013). When I saw her dance for the first time in "Dopamine (you make my levels go silly)" and War Letters at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre on Saturday 18 May 2013 I was bowled over (see Why Ballet Black is Special20 May 2013).
When Ballet Black came to Leeds 6 months later, Sarah Kundi had left the company. As I said in Ballet Black is Still Specialon 7 Nov 2013, I enjoyed Ballet Black's performance in Leeds at least as much as their show in Tottenham but I did miss Sarah Kundi. I did not have long to wait because I found out that she had joined MurleyDance which performed in Leeds on 1 Dec 2013 (see MurleyDance Triple Bill2 Dec 2013).
Sarah Kundi did not stay long with MurleyDance and there were reports that she had been offered work with Victor Ulate in Spain (see ByeBye and All the Best10 June 2014). Happily, English National Ballet offered her an appointment while she was dancing in Romeo and Juliet in the Round (see Saved for the Nation17 July 2914). She remained with that company for the rest of her career picking up the emerging dancer award and triumphing as Lady Capulet (see Congratulations to Sarah Kundion 20 June 2018) and Hortensia in Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella (see Cinders in the Round13 June 2019).
She announcedher retirement on Facebook at the end of English National Ballet's latest season in the Royal Albert Hall and I shall miss her greatly. She was blessed with an expressive countenance that made her a remarkable actor as well as a fine dancer and a physique that gave her an aetherial appearance on stage. Those are qualities that not all principals possess and it is why there were many times that I enquired whether she was in the cast before looking up the leading artists.
Although it is unlikely that we shall ever see her on stage again, Sarah Kundi is not lost to dance. I was delighted to see the Royal Ballet School's announcement that she has joined its staff. There she will pass on her skills, knowledge and experience to promising students. I have had the good fortune to meet her at the stage doors of the Palace Theatre in Manchester and the Albert Hall as well as interview her over Zoom for the Stage Door. I can report that she is as graceful and charming to her fans as she is magnificent on the stage.
I have to thank her for the many years of pleasure that she has given me and no doubt countless other balletgoers and wish her well in her new career as a teacher.
I am very grateful to Sarah Kundi for bringing the Pipeline Project to my attention. This is an initiative of English National Ballet to encourage and incentivize more dancers from African, Caribbean, South Asian or South-East Asian communities to participate in professional ballet training as soon as possible.
Applicants must be aged 8 or over and attend an audition. Those who are successful will receive the following benefits:
free weekly training at their local dance school
support towards shoes and school uniform
the chance to work with English National Ballet dancers, artists and teachers throughout the year
backstage access to English National Ballet’s home in London, the Mulryan Centre for Dance, with additional support for travel to and from East London.
Representatives of the English National Ballet will also visit participating schools at least once a year to answer students' questions and address their concerns.
“It is imperative that we enable and support the underrepresented youth of today by providing training and opportunities, combined with being holistically nurtured, enabling them to flourish and fly”
This is a project that is dear to my heart for all sorts of reasons. I will follow it closely and support it in any way I can. Anyone requiring further information should contact the programme lead.Kerry Nicholls, on balletfutures@ballet.org.uk.
Standard YouTube Licence Central School of Ballet Summer Performance 18 July 2019, 19:30 Bloomsbury Theatre & Studio Central School of Ballet has trained some excellent dancers. They include Sarah Kundi who stole the show as far as I was concerned with her hilarious performance as Cinderella's stepmother in the Albert Hall (see Cinders in the Round13 June 2019). Hannah Bateman was at Central too. She is my favourite at Northern Ballet. So, too, was Rachael Gillespie whom I also admire greatly. The School trained Kenneth Tindall whom I described as "a many sided genius", and, of course, its current artistic director, Christopher Marney, who is my favourite living British choreographer. Central was founded by Christopher Gable whom I first saw as Romeo with Lynn Seymour ar Covent Garden. I saw him again many years later in A Simple Manand it was that performance that attracted me to Northern Ballet as it is now called. His term as artistic director was that company's golden age.
Yesterday, I got a chance to see some of those who will follow in the footsteps of those great names in Central School of Ballet's Summer Performance. That is not the same as the annual tour that the performing company, Ballet Central, make each spring and summer. The Summer Performance offers a chance to see the first and second-year students as well as those in the third year. Though there is some overlap, the programmes are different.Ballet Central visits about 20 theatres up and down the country between March and July, The Summer Performance takes place only at the Bloomsbury Theatre & Studio on the 18 and 19 July.
Heidi Hall, the Director, opened the show with a talk about the School and the performance. She reported that the £9 million appeal had been successful and that the School hoped to move into its new premises after Christmas. Funds were still needed, she reminded us, and she invited everyone in the audience to join its "Friends" scheme. She promised a great show and that was exactly what her young artists, the choreographers, staff and technicians delivered.
The show consisted of seven works divided into two acts:
Jenna Lee's Rock 'n' Roll
Calvin Richardson's Dying Swan
Louse Bennett's Twin Figures
Sandrine Monin's Hidden
Thiago Soares's Vossa Sinfonia
Leanne King's All in Four, and
Christopher Marney's Carousel Dancers.
I liked all of the works, particularly Lee's Rock 'n' Roll, Richardson's Dying Swam, Monin's Hidden, Soares's Vossa Sinfonia, King's All in Four and Marney's Carousel Dances most of all.
I became a fan of Lee when I saw her ballroom scene from Romeo and Juliet in 2017 (see Triumphant1 May 2017) and my admiration of her work grew still more when I saw Black Swan at Stratford last year (see Half a Show is Better than None16 July 2018). I enjoyed her Rock 'n' Roll best of all. Set in a 1950s US diner or maybe a high school hop, the girls wore the most gorgeous full-skirted dresses with yards of tulle petticoats while the boys wore white tops and black bottoms. The action revolved around a jukebox that played the fifties pop of my childhood. It was fun to watch a turns on pointe to Little Richard. I hope and suspect that it was fun to do those turns.
Next came Richardson's Dying Swan danced by Joseph Beretta. Like Michel Decombey's which was danced elegantly by Javier Torres in Northern Ballet's 45th-anniversary gala (see Sapphire15 March 2015), this was a solo for a male. Pavlova died nearly 20 years before I was born so I never saw her dance Fokine's work but my mother did when she was 3 years old and it made such an impression on her that she could describe every detail of the choreography up to the day she died (see In Leeds of all Places - Pavlova, Ashton and Magic 18 Sep 2013). I have seen it performed twice by a modern ballerina - once by Elena Glurdjidze in the Gala for Ghana and a few years earlier by Marianela Nuñez of which I have no recollection at all. Though I like Decombey's work as performed by Torres, Richardson's work was closer in spirit to Fokine. He took no liberties with the score. Had Fokine created a version for a man I think it would have been like Richardson's.
Twin Figures by Louise Bennett was set to Boreslav Martinu's concerto for piano and cello. A very energetic work, it offered plenty of opportunities to the first-year students to demonstrate their virtuosity. Some 20 dancers took part. Clad in blue and green the effect was quite mesmeric. It was a good piece to take us through to the interview. At that point I tweeted:
Thoroughly enjoyed first act of @csbschool's annual performance, particularly @JLchoreographer's "Rock 'n' Roll" and Richardson's "Dying Swan". Looking forward to work by @_TSOARES@chrismarney and Leeds's own @sandrinemonin. Well done to all artists in Act I.
I dubbed Sandrine Monin as "Leeds's own" because I first got to know her work through Phoenix Dance Theatre for whom she created Calyxfrom Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal in 2018. Deep currents ran through Calyx as they did for Hidden which she created for the second years. Figures move about the stage their heads slightly bowed as though they were automatons. I got the impression that the work was inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis because that was the feel of the piece and the narrative that was communicated to me - but I could well be wildly wrong. The music which was contributed by Rusconi and Martinu added to the sense of mechanistic desolation. A very thoughtful piece that needs to be seen again and probably more than twice.
Thiago Soares's Vossa Sinfonia was delightful. It started with Beethoven, continued with Ernesto Nazareth, then Heitor Villa Lobos and Noel Rosa and finally back to Beethoven. Its juxtaposition of Beethoven with recent composers reminded me a little of Arthur Pita's Dream within Midsummer Night's Dream. The piece was the nearest we got to a classical work and in that regard, it would have done credit to Balanchine.
Leanne King's All in Four for the first years was a joyous work. The girls were barefoot. They wore long flowing skirts their hair in ponytails. They danced to Monteverdi's Beatus Vir (which I think means "blessed man" rather than "blessed be" as stated in the programme) arranged by Philip Feeney. Feeny actually played the piano accompaniments with a keyboard and took a bow at the end. As a work of dance, it was my favourite of the evening.
Ballet is, of course, more than just dance. It combines dance with drama, music, costumes, sets and more. It grabs all the senses. That is why I described Carousel Dances as the piece de resistance in my tweets. I saw several dancers who I think will go far. The man who played the male lead, the female lead and the mistress of ceremonies to note just three. There were plenty of circus thrills such as snake charmers, men crashing through hoops and acrobatics all forming the background to a romance. Choreographed to tunes by Rogers and Hammerstein that we all know, it was the perfect end to a great show.
There will be one more performance tonight at 19:30. If you are anywhere near Bloomsbury tonight and there are any tickets to spare go see this show. It is one of the highlights of my year so far.
Standard YouTube Licence English National Ballet Cinderella Royal Albert Hall 9 June 2019, 14:30
I have seen three of English National Ballet's productions in the Royal Albert Hall: Romeo and Julietin 2014, Swan Lakein 2016 and now Cinderella.The last of those is by far the best. I would go so far as to say that it was one of the best shows by that company I have ever seen in a lifetime of pretty regular ballet going.
This was not an entirely new show for me, or indeed for London, as it is an adaptation of Christopher Wheeldon's production for the Dutch National Ballet. That company performed it at the Coliseum in 2015 (see Wheeldon's Cinderella13 July 2015). I saw it again in Amsterdam just before Christmas (see Cinderella in the Stopera24 Dec 2018). Wheeldon has used the same creatives: Craig Luca for the libretto, Julian Crouch for sets and costumes, Basil Twist for the tree and carriage, Daniel Brodie for the video and Natasha Katz for the lighting design.
There are several big differences between the Albert Hall and the Stopera or Coliseum. The first is that the audience surrounds the stage and dancers make their entrances and exits down the gangways. A wonderful opportunity, incidentally, to admire the dancers' costumes, hairstyles and makeup. The second is scale. The projectionist did some wonderful things with a massive screen that stretched from floor to ceiling. One scene showed the royal palace with portraits of the royal family looking down sternly on the antics of the coming generation. One developed horns, another blushes and yet another a withering frown of indignation. The third big difference was that the orchestra performed on a platform high above the stage where they had enough space to swing a leopard. So much better than being cooped up in an orchestra pit under the stage.
The story progressed very much as it had in Holland. Little Cinders is playing with her parents when her mum suddenly coughs up blood. The scene changes to the graveyard where her father introduces a new lady in his life. At first, she does not seem to be such a bad old stick because she presents (or rather gets one of her daughters to present) a bouquet to Cinderella. Cinders lets the flowers fall to the floor. Perhaps not surprisingly, the new step mum just does not like her new stepdaughter.
The two stepsisters are actually girls, unlike Ashton's version in which he and Robert Helpmann put on drag. One of them is a little kinder to Cinders than the other. Wheeldon cuts out the dancing lesson and visits from the cobbler, dressmaker and milliner and substitutes spirits of lightness, generosity, mystery and fluidity representing the seasons. These take the form of tree trunks, unicorns and conkers instead. He even does away with the fairy godmother but gives her four fates, Skyler Martin (formerly of HNB), Daniel McCormick, Erik Woolhouse and Aitor Arrieta instead. They arrange for Cinders to be conveyed to the ball ib one of the most ingenious carriages I have ever seen.
The second act is the prince's ball where the step mum and her daughters turn up with Cinders's dad but no Cinders wearing quite the wrong outfits and generally making fools of themselves. Things got worse when the drink was served because the stepmother drank just a teeny weeny bit too much and had to be lifted off the floor and carried to a couch. That role was performed by Sarah Kundi who is one of my favourite dancers. I have followed her ever since she was with Northern Ballet in Leeds. She used to remind me of a famous dancer of my youth whom she still resembles in many ways. Since she joined ENB I have begun to appreciate her for her own qualities. Kundi stole the second act if not the show and she raised more than a few laughs in the third act when she showed up at the breakfast table with one almighty hangover.
Back to the story. Cinders arrives in a lovely golden dress. She is spotted by the prince who falls for her. Everything goes swimmingly until midnight when the clock chimes, the fates arrive and her stepmother cottons on as to who she must be. Cinders scarpers leaving one of her shoes behind. The third act begins with Cinders serving her dad, Her step mum arrives nursing her head and pukes into the porridge bowl. The prince then tours his kingdom slipper in hand auditioning for brides. Some improbable candidates show up. A knight in armour. One of the trees. A unicorn. Something with very smelly feet. The step mum and her two daughters one of whom is molested by her mother with a mallet.
And, finally. Cinderella who fits the slipper perfectly. The stepmother peevishly tosses it onto the fire but, happily, Cinders kept the other one. There is a royal wedding and everyone is happy. Cinderella even has a kiss for her former tormenter. And the kinder of the two step-sisters finds love with the prince's best friend. I have been rather spoilt watching Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding in the leading roles in London and Remi Wörtmeyer and Anna Ol in Amsterdam but Erina Takahashi was a lovely Cinders and Joseph Caley was a great prince. Good to see Gavin Sutherland from Huddersfield conducting the orchestra, But the star for me on Sunday was definitely Kundi.
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Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a very big fan of Sarah Kundi. Sarah led me to Ballet Black and later to MurleyDance. For a while I feared that she would leave the country (see Bye Bye and All the Best10 June 2014) and was overjoyed when I found that she was saved for the nation for she had been offered a job with English National Ballet.
Although she spent the last four years as an artist of the company she has performed some important roles. One that impressed me particularly was as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company29 Nov 2015), I wrote:
"But the casting that delighted me most was to see Sarah Kundi as Lady Capulet. I have followed that dancer ever since she danced in Leeds. It was she who led me to Ballet Black and through MurleyDance to Richard Chappell. She is tall and elegant with the most expressive face. An actor as much as a dancer, yesterday's role was perfect for her. It is an important one in Nureyev's production for it is Lady Capulet who forces her daughter to take desperate measures. How I clapped at the curtain call. I fear my "brava" roared from the middle of the stalls would have been drowned out by everyone else's applause by the time it reached the stage. Had this show been in London I could have tossed flowers at her."
On the last occasion that English National Ballet performed in Manchester Gita Mistry, Helen McDonough and I actually met Sarah. It was just after she had danced Effie's confidante, Anna, in La Sylphide (see Always Something Special from English National Ballet: La Sylphide with Song of the Earth18 Nov 2017). As the performance was just before Daiwali, Gita had made her a little sweet for the festival.
It was therefore a particular pleasure to read in Promotions and new dancers joining the Company for the 2018-19 seasonon ENB's website that Sarah had been promoted to first artist for the new season. I am sure that all the contributors to Terpsichore will join me in congratulating Sarah and wishing her well. I will definitely be in the audience at the Opera House when the company returns to Manchester in October with Manon and at the Empire when it dances Swan Lake in November. In fact, maybe one of those shows could be Powerhouse Ballet's first outing.
Standard YouTube Licence English National Ballet La Sylphide and Le Jeune Homme et la Mort 19 Jan 2018 Coliseum
Having chosen to see La Sylphide and The Song of the Earth on 14 Oct 2017 in order to catch Tamara Rojo I was disappointed to watch The Song of the Earth over a flickering monitor with the sound turned down in a noisy bar. The reason for my banishment to the bar was that I arrived at the Palace Theatre a few minutes after the performance had begun. That was because Manchester City Council in its wisdom had seen fit to close Albert Square to traffic without adequate warning or diversion signs just as crowds were streaming into the city for a night out. The result was chaos and although I found a way round the traffic I could not avoid it entirely. That was my only low point of the evening and the pleasure of meeting Sarah Kundi, one of my favourite dancers, after the show went a long way to making up for it (see Always Something Special from English National Ballet: La Sylphide with Song of the Earth18 Nov 2018).
Had I seen The Song of the Earth on stage it is unlikely that I would have gone to London on Friday. I would then have missed one of the most remarkable performances that I have seen in nearly 60 years of ballet going. It is strange how something that appeared to be a disaster can sometimes turn out for the best. The performance of Le Jeune Homme et la Mortby Ivan Vasilev and Tamara Rojo was one of the most compelling that I have ever seen.
The work was created by Roland Petit shortly after the Second World War. We don't see much of Petit's work in this country which is a regrettable because he was an important choreographer. I have seen only one other work by Petit in a lifetime of ballet going. Petit's muse was his wife Zizi Jeanmaire who was a dramatic dancer with the most captivating eyes. I never got to see her in real life though I saw her on film in Carmen and Le Jeune Homme et la Mort. Sadly it is no longer possible to see Jeanmaire as the temptress in Le Jeune Homme et la Mort but we can still see Rojo. I believe that the experience of seeing her in the role is very similar to seeing Jeanmaire. That is not to say that Rojo imitates her predecessor - far from it because Rojo has made the role her own - but she is at least as exciting to watch. Rojo, like Jeanmaire, is a dramatic dancer with striking features and an imperious manner both as the woman and as death.
As my eyes were riveted on Rojo from the moment she appeared at the door, I am not sure that I gave Vasilev the attention that he deserved. He is another outstanding dancer. I appreciated his strength and beauty. I marvelled at his virtuosity as he perched on the backs of chairs and leaped over furniture waiting for his visitor. But it was only when he kicked away his support with his head in a noose that I focused on him fully. As the scene changed from garret to afterlife Rojo drew me back as she emerged as some angel of death. A ballerina's ballet if ever there was.
I should say a word about Georges Wakhévitch's designs and in Karinska's costumes, The young man is stripped to the waste in jeans but the woman wears a fluid, canary yellow dress and black gloves in life and a long white dress, death mask and red veil as death. The next life appears to start on the rooftops of Paris. In the background stands the Eiffel tower advertising Citroën. I never knew that the Eiffel tower was ever used for advertising so I looked it up. According to Sophie Nadeau, it really did happen. For a time the tower was the biggest outdoor advertisement in the world (see Solo Sophie).
The rest of the evening was Bournonville's treasure La Sylphide. I love that ballet so much. How I would enjoy dancing Madge. As I said in my review of English National Ballet's performance of La Sylphide in Manchester, I greatly prefer that ballet to Giselle:
"I prefer Løvenskiold's score to Adam's any day and the idea of the ghosts of spurned maidens dancing their lovers - or indeed any other man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time - to death gives me the heebie-jeebies. The story inLa Sylphide is so much more reasonable even if it does have mythical creatures like sylphs and witches."
I had enjoyed the show in Manchester but I liked Friday night's performance even more. Rina Kanehara was a delightful sylph. Her loyal friend Anna was danced again by Sarah Kundi. I have followed her for years and it is always a pleasure to see her. Joseph Caley portrayed a headstrong James. I can't help feeling sorry for him. Yes he may have been mean to Madge but he didn't deserve what happened to him. Had I been Effy I would have forgiven him. Caley had been one of my favourite dancers at the Birmingham Royal Ballet and it was good to see him in his new company. Daniel Kraus was a scheming and devious Gurn. Crystal Costa made a very successful debut as Effy. Life with Gurn. Hmm! Frying pans and fire spring to mind. Madge makes or breaks a performance of La Sylphide for me and Jane Howarth was a splendid witch. One could almost hear her imprecations.
It had not been easy getting to the theatre from Holborn as the Piccadilly Line was up the creek. I arrived at Leicester Square squashed, squeezed, hot and bothered with hardly any time to spare to pick up my ticket, deposit a heavy brief case and find my seat. I was hardly in the most appreciative frame of mind for an evening at the ballet. The drama, the choreography. Rojo's dancing, the brilliance of the work blew all that away. The show finished at 22:00 and my train home was at 22:57. Plenty of time for a few stops one would have thought. In fact, I needed every single minute as the Piccadilly Line had still not found its paddle by the time the theatres were emptying. And when I arrived at Doncaster I had to drive 35 miles on ungritted roads through falling snow. The excellence of the double bill was well worth those tribulations.
Standard YouTube Licence English National Ballet La Sylphide. Song of the EarthPalace Theatre, 14 Oct 2017, 19:30 Long before Laverne Meyer set up his Northern Dance Theatre in Manchester, Mancunians had a special affection for English National Ballet. The company, then known as London Festival Ballet, gave its first performance in our city. Every year it returns with something special. Last year, it was the Akram Khan's Giselle. This year it wasLa Sylphide with Song of the Earth.
Because it is set in Scotland, I have often argued that it should be our national ballet but very few British companies dance it. I have seen Danes, Americans, Italians and Australians in kilts but never Scotsmen. The Royal Ballet has a version but they last danced it in 2012 (see La Sylphide on the Royal Opera House website). Scottish Ballet has Sir Matthew Bourne's Highland Flingin its repertoire which was performed brilliantly by Ballet Central last year. One company that would be ideally placed for this ballet is Ballet West which is actually situated in Gurn and Effie country. I have begged Daniel Job to stage this work but for some reason or another, it is just not possible.
To my mind, it is much more satisfying than Giselle. I prefer Løvenskiold's score to Adam's any day and the idea of the ghosts of spurned maidens dancing their lovers - or indeed any other man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time - to death gives me the heebie-jeebies. The story in La Sylphideis so much more reasonable even if it does have mythical creatures like sylphs and witches.
The version that English National danced last month was Andersen and Kloborg's version rather than the Peter Schaufuss's which was previously in its repertoire. The Queensland Ballet brought it back to London in 2015 and I reviewed it in A dream realized: the Queensland Ballet in London12 Aug 2015. I liked both versions very much but if I had to opt for a favourite it would have to be the Andersen and Kloborg. It has a certain lightness of touch and parts of it such as the fruitless search for the hidden sylph and her cheeky leaps across the stage are even quite funny.
Jurgita Dronina was a perfect sylph. Playful, ethereal, enticing. Easy to see why James was led astray on his wedding day. Isaac Hernández was that wayward James. Magnificent with his jumps and turns but so weak of resolve. Giorgio Garrett was the scheming Gurn. Jealous and treacherous, catching Effie of the rebound. I felt glad not to be in her shoes as the wedding procession made its way to the kirk in the final scene. Anjuli Hudson played poor, sweet Effie.
My favourite character in any production of La Sylphide is, of course, Madge. The bag lady turned away from the fire by a mean-spirited James. Her dance with the other witches at the start of Act 2 is chilling and thrilling. Her's is a dramatic role not easy to perform. Justice was done to it, however, by
A particular pleasure for me was to see Sarah Kundi as Effie's confidante, Anna. Sarah is a dancer that I have admired for many years. She led me to Ballet Black and I have followed her closely at ENB. Even though I have long been one of her fans and also support Chantry Dance and the Chantry School I had never actually met her. As we follow each other on Twitter and Facebook I asked her how she would feel about meeting two of her fans after the show. No problem was the reply so Gita and I, together with Helen McDonough waited for her at the stage door. Gita, who is a champion chef had prepared a little Diwali treat for her.
Often when a fan meets a favourite artist it is something of an anticlimax. But not with Sarah! She was as charming and gracious in real life as she is delightful to watch on stage. She accepted Gita's gift and chatted about her roles for several minutes until she had to board the coach that was to take the company from the theatre. Helen, who was armed with an autograph book, got several signatures that night including Sarah's.
Meeting one of my favourite artists went a long way to offsetting my only disappointment of the evening, For some reason or other the local authority had closed Albert Square for an event but had failed to give adequate warning. The result was gridlock and chaos as we approached the theatre. I managed to drop Gita at the theatre steps minutes before the curtain was due to rise. I had to park. I had to drive to the top of the multistorey to find a seat which meant that I missed the start of the show. Consequently, I was obliged to watch Song of the Earth on a flickering monitor with crackly sound in a noisy bar. I had chosen that performance expressly to see Tamara Rojo and, sadly, I missed her,
But it was still a great evening and I still have the chance of seeing Song of the Earth at the Coliseum in the New Year.
Author Kenneth Allen Source Wikipedia Creative Commons Licence
Christopher Marney, Hannah Bateman, Kenneth Tindall, Rachael Gillespie, Dominic North, Sarah Kundi, Paul Chantry and many more of my favourite dancers and choreographers trained at Central School of Ballet. One of the reasons why that school has produced so many fine dancers and dance makers is that it provides its students with an opportunity to learn every aspect of performance through its touring company Ballet Central. According to Christopher Hampson, Central graduates can normally be spotted in the studio within a few minutes because of their professionalism and understanding of how theatre works. Sir Matthew Bourne describes them as "a valuable asset to any company".
Ballet Central consists of the school's final year students: Angela Centomini, Sophie Cottrill, Tara Cox, Augusta De Marchis, Brittanie Dillon, Eleanor Ferguson, Sophie Hull, Emily Hulme, Kanon Kihara, Iori Matsuura, Amy McEntee, Moeno Oba, Rowan Parker, Charlotte Peers, Ciara Sampson, Eloise Shepherd Taylor, Reiko Tan, Saskia Twiss, Henrietta Wolf, Emma Zeppetella, Megumi Zushi, Ruaridh Bisset, Eric Caterer-Cave, Adam Davies, James Dunn, Álvaro Feliz Olmedo, Yusuke Kuroda, Cameron Lee-Allen, Liam Lindsay, Jonathan MacDonald, Craig McFarlane, Matthew Morrell, Stephen Murray, Jaume Ruiz Xifra and Rahién Testa. Their artistic director is Christopher Marney, their musical director is Philip Feeney and their rehearsal coach is Carole Gable (see Staff Biographies on Central's website).
As part of their degree course, those students will travel some 10,000 miles around the country from Penzance in the South West to Ayr in Scotland performing in towns and cities along the way to a total audience of 5,000. Their 2017 schedule was published yesterday and one of their venues is the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre at Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre's studios in Leeds. They will visit us on 28 April 2017 at 19:30. Save for a visit to Whitehaven on 13 May that will be the only chance to see them in the North.
This year the company will perform part of Sir Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling.Indigo Children by Liam Scarlett, a new version of the ballroom scene from Romeo and Juliet by Jenna Lee, a scene from Dracula by Michael Pink, a specially created work by Christopher Bruce and excerpts from Petipa’s La Bayadere and The Nutcracker. I hope to see them on the 28 April and will review their performance shortly afterwards.
I wanted to like Akram Khan's Giselle for English National Ballet so much. I love that company having followed it for ever since I was first taken to the Festival Hall to see The Nutcracker as a child some 60 years ago. As I said in Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company29 Nov 2015 the company danced its first ballet in Manchester on 5 Feb 1951 and I am mindful of the compliment that ENB has paid my native city by premiering an important new work there. I am glad that virtually the entire audience (or so it seemed from my position in the centre stalls) was able to give it a standing ovation - though I was not one of those who stood.
Now I have to choose my words very carefully for I don't want to condemn a work that has much merit with faint praise. There was some exciting, energetic and in the final duet between Giselle and Albrecht, quite beautiful dancing. Vicenzo Lamagna wrote, and Gavin Sutherland orchestrated, an interesting score with frequent allusions to Adolphe Adam's. Equally interesting were Tim Yip's designs. Two of my favourite dancers, Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández, danced Giselle and Albtrcht and there were other favourites in other roles. The dancers worked hard contorting their bodies in unusual shapes and positions. The courou on pointe by Stina Quagebeur, who danced Myrtha, and the corps at the beginning of Act II must have been exhausting and for some excruciating.
I am glad I saw the work. I hope to see it again and perhaps pick up some of the nuances that my companion (who is of Gujarati heritage) appreciated but which passed me by. I recommend it. It was a good show - though not a great one - and it certainly was not one that swept me to my feet in the way that Brandsen did with Mata Hari (see Brandsen's Masterpirce14 Feb 2016), Maillot with his Shrew (see Bolshoi's Triumph - The Taming of the Shrew4 Aug 2016), Dawson with his Swan Lake (see Dawson's Swan Lake comes to Liverpool 29 May 2016) or Meisner with his No Time Before Time (see Dutch National Ballet's Opening Night Gala - Improving on Excellence8 Sept 2016) earlier this year.
To understand my critique of this work it is worth looking at The Storyon the special website that ENB has created for this ballet. At first sight it is Gautier's libretto with a modern twist - perhaps closer to that version than the Dance Theatre of Harlem's Creole Giselleand certainly Mats Ek's for the Paris Opera - but it does not unfold that way. In Gauthier's libretto, which is explained so beautifully in the following Dutch language
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animation, the story builds. The audience can understand Hilarion's hostility towards Albrecht which is the only reason why he has to die. In Ruth Little's version that hostility is taken as read. The scene opens in the factory with Albrecht seeking out Giselle. Hardly any of the cues - the hiding of the sword, the picking of the petals, Giselle's heart tremor and so on - remain. Surprisingly there is still the dance of the vignerons where Giselle playfully runs from Albrecht as the dancers wheel round stage but it seems to serve no obvious purpose in Little's version. It is the absence of those cues that prompts my companion's question "Why does Hilarion have to die in act II?" As she said, he has done nothing wrong. Or at least he was not half as bad as Albrecht who seduced Giselle and then abandoned her for Bathilde. In Gautier's libretto there is a logic. In Little's it seems so unfair.
As I wrote in Reflections on Giselle 29 Jan 2014 I have problems with the second act. I have to treat it as though it were an abstract work by Balanchine in order to sit through it. In reworking Giselle the creative team had a golden opportunity to ditch the superstition as Ek did by settling act II in a psychiatric hospital. Had they done something like that it might have strengthened the show but they kept it spooky. However. Khan's choreography for act II was quite different. Instead of those mesmerizing arabesques as the corps crosses the stage the girls couroured on pointe for what for them must have seemed ages. Instead of forcing their victims to dance themselves to death through exhaustion the wilis dispatched them with sticks to the accompaniment of grinding and crackly noises. Instead of facing the whole company of wilis Giselle had only to fend off Myrtha who stood scowling with her stick as Giselle danced with Albrecht for the last time.
That final duet was for me the most beautiful part of the ballet and also the most impressive. At one point Hernandez held Cojocaru by the legs and she seemed to revolve in the hold in a most amazing fashion. That last dance is what I most want to see again. With some ballets it is only a single pas de deux that survives in a company's repertoire and perhaps that will be the case with this duet.
My companion and I discussed the sticks on the drive home. "Were they supposed to be tasers?" I asked myself. Whether intended or not they were the only allusion to the Sub-Continent that registered with me for they reminded me of the sticks carried in a Punjabi folk dance that I had seen at a Bhangra festival in Huddersfield Town Hall some years ago. My companion, who is fortunate enough to have grown up in two cultures, told me that there was so much more in the rhythms of the music and the dancers' steps.
My all abiding impression of the work was unremitting darkness. Dark in two senses. Every scene was very dimly lit. So dark that I could not recognize the faces of the dancers until the reverence. I had been looking out for Sarah Kundi who is one of my favourites - but I never saw her until that curtain call. However, my companion recognized Sarah from her movements that were quite different from those of the other dancers - perhaps because of her heritage, my companion suggested. Even darker than the lighting, however. was the story for it was one of constant grind. At least in the traditional Giselle there are some happy bits such as the crowning of Giselle as harvest queen. There was nothing like than in Khan's. Just a morose folk dance for the landlords who were heralded by blasts that sounded like factory sirens or perhaps fog horns. Very intense and just a little depressing.
How does Giselle compare to Khan's other work? I regret that I have not seen much of it but of the works that I have seen I much prefer Ka'ash (see Akram Khan's Kaash - contemporary meets Indian classical7 Oct 2015) and indeed Dust which was the highlight of last year's triple bill (see Lest we forget25 Nov 2015). However, as my friend said "Giselle is a work in progress that can only improve." She did get up to applaud at the end of the show and shouted "Go on Akram!" Maybe in time I shall be able to do the same.
English National Ballet, Swan Lake, Royal Albert Hall, 12 June 2016 Watching ballet in the Royal Albert Hall is quite a different experience from watching it on a proscenium stage. Even though the performance space is so much larger it is in many ways more intimate. I think that may be because the audience surrounds the dancers who often down the aisles between them to enter the stage. Swan Lake is particularly well suited for arena performances because much of the action takes place around a lake which is by definition a space enclosed by land.
The scale of the production is staggering. According to the programme there were 120 dancers of whom 60 were swans. There were also 80 musicians in the orchestra. Many of the dances doubled in size. There were 8 cygnets and not just 4. The pas de six became a pas de douze. There were 8 princesses, 8 Spanish dancers and 8 Hungarians.
The reason for the scaling up was that those dances would have been lost to at least half the audience had they been performed with the usual numbers in the traditional way. However, there are some roles that cannot be scaled up. Clearly you can't have 2 Siegfrieds, 2 Odette-Odiles (except for Odette's 'don't be such a blithering idiot' bits of the black act which I shall mention later) or indeed 2 Rothbarts. For those roles the company needs to deploy dancers of exceptional versatility who are thrilling to watch and capable of filling the massive space single handed. All the dancers I saw yesterday met that requirement.
The key to the success of this ballet - unless you rewrite the story as Sir Matthew Bourne and David Nixon have done (see Wikipedia Swan Lake (Bourne) synopsis and Swan Lake Storyon the Northern Ballet website) - is a strong Odette-Odile. She must be ethereal, delicate and almost fragile in the second and fourth acts and an only two human vamp in the third. Now what I perceive to be the difficulty for the ballerina - and it may well be that I am quite wrong about that - is that human personality leans towards one or the other and if you lean one way it is not easy to project the other.
One ballerina who can pull it off is Erina Takahashi. I saw her dance Odette-Odile at the Palace in Manchester on the 9 Oct 2014 (see What Manchester does today10 Oct 2014). Here is what I wrote about her then:
"Yesterday was the first time I had seen her (or at any rate the first time I had noticed her) and she impressed me considerably. She was a very convincing Odette in the prologue and second act - so delicate and feminine - and I couldn't imagine her as Odette but the lady is tough as well as beautiful and she is also an accomplished actor. She danced the seduction scene even more brilliantly than she had danced Odette."
I had forgotten that I had written those words for this is what I tweeted at 15:59 yesterday
Thoroughly looking forward to seeing @ErinaTakahashi_ in the Black Act. Can she do seductress.as well as the Swan Queen? Test of a ballerina
I have never really believed that Siegfried could have been taken in by Odile's appearance because she moves and behaves so differently from Odette. I think he was so dazzled by Odile, and in particular by her 32 fouettés, that he temporarily forgot about Odette even when she fluttered in to warn him not to be such a blithering idiot. Had it been mistaken identity the spell could have been undone but as Siegfried's promise was intended it could not. At least not unless he jumped in the lake or fought Rothbart or something.
My view of Siegfried - any Siegfried - has recently been revised by David Dawson (see Empire Blanche: Dawson's Swan Lake4 June 2016). Siegfried is a blundering adolescent. Yes he really is impressed by silly things like cross bows. He falls in love with visions. He makes promises he cannot keep. Yet he cannot be ignored for he is heir to the throne. However, great virtuosity is required of him. He must thrill us in the third Act with his leaps and his turns in the air. One of the most thrilling dancers in English National Ballet who filled that bill exactly was Yonah Acosta.
The third major player in the story is Rothbart. He must also thrill and also chill even though he has no great solo. However, he does have a cape to wave or rather wings to flap and his appearances were heralded by flashing lights across the auditorium and the antics of his skull headed acrobatic acolytes. Yesterday his role was performed by Fabian Remair whom I had last seen as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company 28 Nov 2015). He had impressed me then and he did so again yesterday. A first soloist with the company he is clearly a name to watch.
There were fine performances also by Michael Coleman as Siegried's tutor and the master of ceremonies, Jane Haworth as Siegfried's mum (or the queen) and Shiori Kase and Vitor Menezes. Everybody in the cast did well. Although she did not dance a solo role on this occasion I am always delighted to glimpse Sarah Kundi, one of my favourite dancers, in any role. She was in the Spanish dance and I gave her an especially loud clap as she passed my box at the end of her piece.
This year the swans included Natasha Watson and the guests at Siegfried's party Andrew McFarlane who trained at Ballet West (see A Cause for Double Celebration at the Robin's Nest9 Feb 2016). I could not recognize Andrew but I do know Natasha and I uttered a little "brava" for her at the end of the show. I am so proud of her and also of Andrew. Natasha is a Genée medallist and was the only British finalist in Lausanne in 2015. She is on a trajectory to the top and I wish her all the best.
I should say a word about the expanded orchestra. They played well. Indeed rarely have I heard the English National Ballet Philharmonic play better. I had expected Gavin Sutherland to cinduct them but instead Helena Bayo appeared. It was the first time I had seen her but I hope it will not be the last. Often my eyes turned to her from the stage for her body was expressing the music too just as beautifully as any of the dancers. She directed the musicians with passion but also with sensitivity. The result was a most delightful rendering of one of my favourite ballet scores.
Some things have to be done differently in the round. A real live dancer who is obviously not Takahashi has to represent Odette during the seduction scene. The ballerina could not lead the admirable Helena Bayo onto the stage. All that could be done was a reverence by the lead dancers and a kiss from the conductor blown back to them. There were also monitors around the auditorium with the camera fixed on the conductor. I surmise that was for the benefit of the dancers.
Although I enjoyed yesterday's performance tremendously I do have reservations. It is spectacular but at times I felt the emphasis was on the spectacle - the flashing lights, the acrobatics, the costumes and the sheer numbers on the stage - rather than on the dancing. It is obviously more expensive to stage than a proscenium show because the ticket prices were high even for London. However there were plenty of people able and willing to pay the price for the Albert Hall was packed to the gunnels. In The Arena Phenomenon in the programme noted that the novelty and appeal of ballet in the round attracts audiences who do not regularly attend conventional performances. The absence of a ripple of applause when the principals appeared or at turn 28 of Odile's fouettés, someone from my box shouting out "He's behind you" when Rothbart took his curtain call to mixed cheers and boos, the middle age man in the box next to mine sticking his fingers in his mouth and whistling his appreciation at the end of Act III and the eyes of so many on the synopsis page of the programmes suggested that was indeed the case. Nothing wrong with that of course if ballet in the round inspires a love of ballet generally, but it is an indulgence which, like chocolate, should be savoured only sparingly.
Swan Lake is special to me and it has become even more special since I tried to learn the cygnets' dance, Siegfried's solo and the swans' entry at KNT's Swan Lake intensive last year (see KNT's Beginners' Adult Ballet Intensive - Swan Lake: Day 1, Day 2and Day 3). The last "Swan Lake" I saw had bikes, a whole load of new characters with names like Anthony and Odilia and a completely different story set somewhere where they vote for Bernie Sanders. I didn't like it the first time I saw it in 2004 even though it had a stellar cast (see Don't Expect Petipa5 Jan 2016) and I didn't like it any better when I saw it again in March (see Up the Swannee17 March 2016).
So my tongue is hanging out for a real Swan Lake with a Siegfried, Odette-Odile and Rothbart with all the usual divertissements plus Legnani's 32 fouettés but minus the bikes and other gimmicks. And I am glad to see that English National Ballet have offered us exactly that with Yonah Acosta as Siegfried, Erina Takahashi as Odette-Odile and Fabian Raimair as Rothbart. That would be more than enough to justify the somewhat steep - nay mountainous - ticket price and the return rail fare to London but my cup would run over were I to see Sarah Kundi and Natasha Watson on stage too.
Watson is interviewed together with other young artists in yesterday's post to the English National Ballet's blog "It’s hard work being a swan!"30 May 2016 ENB blog. You can say that again folks. I KNOW. I'VE TRIED TO DO IT."
Yesterday I wrote about Nederlands Dans Theater 2 (see NDT2 at the Lowry24 April 2016) and I have written a lot over the years about the Dutch National Ballet's Junior Company. None of our leading companies has a junior company as such but Ballet West, the Central School of Ballet and the Northern Ballet School all have performance companies. It is a thrill to watch those excellent young men and women on stage and through this blog I try to encourage them all.
Central's performance company is called Ballet Central which consists of the final year students on its BA (Hons) Degree course. Its website claims that
"Central School of Ballet is the only classical vocational school to offer an Honours Degree and pre-professional touring experience on such a scale. It has been a springboard for hundreds of dancers into the dance profession."
Ballet Central is now making its annual tour with an interesting programme which will include works by Gable, Marney and Watson. This year is special because it is the company's 30th anniversary and the work that I am looking forward to seeing most is Marney's War Letters which featured on the cover of this month's Dancing Times. I loved that work when it was performed by Ballet Black three years ago and it will be interesting to see another company's interpretation. One obvious difference from the cover photo is that Ballet Central will be using British uniforms instead of American ones for its male dancers.
One of the dancers on tour is Jasmine Wallis who impressed me in Marney's Carnival of the Animals for the Chelmsford Ballet Company last year (see A Delight Indeed22 March 2015). Marion Pettet, the Chair of Chelmsford Ballet, saw Ballet Central when it came to Chelmsford a few weeks ago and tipped Wallis as someone to look out for.
Despite their connections with Phoenix and Northern Ballet, Ballet Central's touring schedule allows only one stop in the North and that is at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds on Thursday, 28 April 2016. There are still one or two seats left towards the back of the auditorium. Last year's show was dazzling (see Dazzled 3 May 2016). The thirtieth anniversary tour can hardly be less exciting.
(c) 2016 Chantry Dance Company: all rights reserved
Reproduction licensed by the company
As I said in "My Trip to Hungary"21 April 2016, I met Mel at Chantry Dance's workshop in Lincoln in May 2014. Ironically, on the very day that I had arranged to visit her in Hungary Chantry Dance held an event at DancePointe Studios in Grantham which attracted four of the people that I most admire in dance.
The occasion was the naming of three of the studios at Dance Pointe as the "Deborah Bull Studio", "Robert Parker Studio" and "Dominic North Studio" by each of those distinguished visitors respectively. Sarah Kundi attended the event in her capacity as a patron of the Chantry School of Contemporary and Balletic Arts.
As a Friend of the Chantry Dance Company I had been invited to the event and I dithered for several days between abandoning my trip to Hungary notwithstanding my prepayment of fares, accommodation and theatre tickets. It was only my regard for Sir Peter Wright and my friendship with Mel that tipped the balance.
As I did not attend the event I quote from the Company's press release:
"The event saw students from DancePointe and Chantry School perform a showcase for the three guests of honour and an invited audience of solo and group routines in the different styles of dance they study which included contemporary ballet and acro-dance. Afterwards the guests were introduced to the audience and they presented name-plaques and signed pictures that are now displayed at the studios. The students were evidently delighted to be able to dance in front their dance heroes, with many asking for photographs and autographs afterwards. One student even had her pointe shoes signed by the three VIPs! Mr Parker said of Chantry and DancePointe that 'the level of energy and passion they bring to all of the wonderful work they do is so encouraging for the young people'. Mr North said he was 'absolutely thrilled' to have a studio named after him and Ms Bull said 'I so admire the work that Chantry Dance and DancePointe are doing here, making a real difference to young people – you see it on their faces when we saw them perform today – they were fantastic!”
Deborah Bull and Robert Parker are carving glittering careers for themselves off the stage but Dominic North and Sarah Kundi still delight us regularly with their performances. I had the pleasure of meeting Dominic North after he danced with Rae Piper in Chasing the Eclipse at the Gravity Fields science festival (see Gravity Fields - Chasing the Eclipse28 Sept 2014) but I have never met Sarah Kundi even though I have followed her since she was with Northern Ballet and have written a lot about her. She has recently been interviewed by Desiblitz on her career and culture (see Sarah Kundi ~ An Enchanting British Asian Ballet DancerDesiblitz).
In its press release the Company notes that the event was highly significant not just for Chantry School and DancePointe but for dance in Lincolnshire in general
"as dance students in the region will undoubtedly find it highly motivating to have received support from such respected and high profile dance celebrities."
Grantham, a beautiful little market town with its magnificent parish church and live beehive pub sign, has already produced one of the world's greatest scientists and (whether you like her politics or not) one of the most influential British Prime Ministers since Robert Peel and now has every chance of producing a succession of great dancers.
Chantry Dance at Move It 2016 Standard YouTube Licence
Move It 2016 was billed as "The UK's Biggest Dance Event ...... with 22,000 dancers - three days - performances, classes, career advice, celebrities, interviews and shopping!" I visited the show on Sunday and described it in MOVE IT 201624 March 2016. One of the events that took place the previous day was a performance on the main stage by Chantry School of Contemporary and Balletic Arts. To share that stage with the likes of Darcey Bussell, Elena Glurdjidze and BalletBoyz is a singular distinction and one that reflects the growing reputation of the School.
Even more significant in my book is the patronage that the School has received from Sarah Kundi (see the Patrons page). I have been following her ever since she was at Northern Ballet and it was she who led me to Ballet Black (see Why Ballet Black is special20 May 2013) and MurleyDance (see Something to brighten up your Friday - MurleyDance is coming to the North8 Nov 2013). I was almost heartbroken when I feared that we would have to travel to Madrid to see her again (see Bye Bye and All the Best10 June 2014) and overjoyed when I learned that she was staying after all (see Saved for the Nation17 July 2014). The last time I saw her was as Lady Capulet in English National Ballet's Romeo and Juliet in Manchester where she was magnificent (see Manchester's Favourite Ballet Company29 Nov 2015). Kundi is one of three young British women dancers who move my spirit in a very special way (the others if you are interested are Birmingham's Ruth Brill and Northern's Rachael Gillespie). As I have said, before when Kundi dances I float.
Kundi is not the only fine dancer to be a patron of the Chantry School. Dominic North is another. He, like Kundi, trained with Paul Chantry at Central School of Ballet. North will attend a special studio naming ceremony on 17 April 2016 at DancePointe in Grantham where Chantry Dance are based. The great ballerina, Deborah Bull, who is now Director of Cultural Partnerships at King's College, London, and Robert Parker, Artistic Director of Elmhurst who also flies aeroplanes, will be there too. I last saw Parker on stage at the Hippodrome at the double bill to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sadler's Well Royal Ballet's move to Birmingham and the 20th anniversary of David Bintley's appointment as that company's Artistic Director (see In Praise of Bintley21 June 2015).
One of the reasons why the Chantry School attracts such support is that it is attached to the Chantry Dance Company. Last autumn the company toured England with its Duology double bill which I caught at Halifax (see my review Duology29 Sept 2015). One of the works that comprised that programme was Vincent - a stranger to himself which Paul Chantry created. The company's other contribution to MOVE IT 2016 was a class based on that piece. That took place at the LSC studio by the double decker London bus on Friday and it must have been a wonderful experience for everyone who took part.
The company is planning another Autumn tour of the Midlands and London this Autumn featuring two new works Ulysses Unbound and The Stacked Deck. Sadly they will not make it to the North this time but perhaps we can tempt them to Leeds or Manchester for a workshop or other event one of these days.
English National Ballet, Romeo and Juliet, Palace Theatre, 28 Nov 2015
Last night was the 46th anniversary of the first performance by Northern Dance Theatre (later known as Northern Ballet) at the University Theatre in Manchester. Northern Ballet crossed the Pennines many years ago leaving our city without our own major ballet company. Or did it? I think Manchester has a special relationship with English National Ballet which goes back a very long way. The company gave its first performance at the Opera House on 5 Feb 1951 (see Our History) and it has chosen Manchester for the première of Akram Khan's Giselle on 27 Sept 2016. Last night and on Tuesday English National Ballet pulled out all the stops for us. I don't think I have ever seen English National Ballet dance better since I started following it in 1955.
On Tuesday the company performed Lest we forget (see Lest we Forget25 Nov 2015). For the rest of the week it has been dancing Nureyev's production of Romeo and Juliet. Yesterday was the first time I had seen that version and I liked it a lot. It has a lot of imaginative and original features some of which, such as the unfolding of Friar Lawrence's cunning plan, seem to have been borrowed from the cinema. It is tense and tight and packed with action. There are lots of colourful touches from the dropping of the black and red cloth in the prologue to the Montagues' flag dance in Act II. There are whole new scenes such as Mercutio's death scene when Romeo and his mates think he is play acting or Juliet's solo with the dagger after Romeo has gone into exile and her parents are trying to force her to marry Paris. The shock when Romeo realizes that Mercutio is dead explains the rush of blood that goaded him to pick up a sword even better than the play. Having said that it is much closer to its source material than either Jean-Christophe Maillot's for Northern Ballet with its focus on Friar Lawrence or Krzysztof Pastor's for Scottish Ballet with its potted history of Italy even though I must add that I liked both versions well enough at the time (see Northern Ballet's Romeo and Juliet - different but in a good way8 March 2015 and Scottish Ballet's Timeless Romeo and Juliet18 May 2015).
Though I admired Nureyev's choreography, the orchestration of Prokofiev's magnificent score and Ezio Frigerio's designs it was the dancing that made the evening for me. The casting of Max Westwell and. in particular, Lauretta Summerscales in the title roles was inspired. On her web page she mentions Juliet as the role she would love to dance. The company gave her the chance to dance that role and she grabbed that chance with both hands. I don't think I have ever seen a better Juliet although I have seen some of the world's greatest ballerinas in that role. The quality that she brought to that role was her youth. When playing with her nurse and girl friends in Act I she looked as though she might actually be 13. She grew into a mature woman before our eyes. Westwell was an excellent partner for her. I can quite see how he became a finalist of the emerging dancer contest. His web page says that Romeo and Juliet is his favourite production too and he also made the most of his opportunity to dance the leading role.
All the cast did well and it is perhaps unfair to single any of them for special praise but Fernando Bufalá was a great Mercutio. He was the life and soul of every party (even the one he gate crashed) and clowning even as he died. Fabian Reimair was a seething Tybalt, Jeanette Kakareka a delightful Rosaline and Daniele Silingardi a decent Paris. He seems to have loved Juliet and would have been quite a catch for almost every other young woman. I felt really sorry that he had to die in the tomb.
But the casting that delighted me most was to see Sarah Kundi as Lady Capulet. I have followed that dancer ever since she danced in Leeds. It was she who led me to Ballet Black and through MurleyDance to Richard Chappell. She is tall and elegant with the most expressive face. An actor as much as a dancer, yesterday's role was perfect for her. It is an important one in Nureyev's production for it is Lady Capulet who forces her daughter to take desperate measurers. How I clapped at the curtain call. I fear my "brava" roared from the middle of the stalls would have been drowned out by everyone else's applause by the time it reached the stage. Had this show been in London I could have tossed flowers at her. She and everyone on stage would have deserved them.
So farewell to English National Ballet until its next season in our city. Heartfelt thanks for two magnificent shows. Now that we are to build our fine new £78 million arts centre (see The Factory begins to take Shape26 Nov 2015) maybe we can tempt it back more often and to stay with us a little longer each time it returns.
