Bennnnnd… and swish!: Forsythe, Balanchine, Wheeldon and Scarlett at the ROH
Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Balanchine's Tarantella, Wheeldon's Strapless and Scarlett's Symphonic Dances
The Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House
17 and 24 May 2017
17: Grand Tier C4 staff rehearsal ticket (thanks James); 24: Amphitheatre B37, £6
ROH page
This quad displays uniformally superb dancing with some mixed choreography. I've been trying to think if that signifies something crucial about the relationship of dance to choreographer but I think perhaps it just shows you how difficult it is to make a ballet work – and how enchanting it is when choreographic and musical inspiration are aligned with excellent execution.
I've only seen one Forsythe live before now and that was, obviously, In the middle, somewhat elevated with ENB. There the choreography blew my mind but by the end the pounding 80s soundtrack made me want to die or at least lose consciousness. That is certainly not the case with Vertiginous, which sets the last movement of Schubert's Great, beautifully performed by the orchestra on both nights. Koen Kessels and his team are certainly doing something right when the result is such alive, fervent and clean playing. I was thrilled by the choreography, too – or at least by its execution. The cast was Steven McRae, Vadim Muntagirov, Marianela Nuñez, Akane Takada and Beatriz Stix-Brunell at the rehearsal and on Tuesday the same except with Mayara Magri in place of Stix-Brunell. All six danced with phenomenal stamina (though Magri was tiring towards the end, reasonably enough) and delightful individuality, each a powerful representative of the current extraordinary strength of the Royal Ballet. Do I have to pick a favourite? Nuñez, no question. Did I pity the dancers and their relentlessly difficult steps? Yes I did. Was it vertiginously exact? Not exactly, but it came close, and provided plenty of thrills in pretty much all other respects.
Tarantella was danced both nights by Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé (and indeed the cast for the last two ballets was also the same both nights, as I unimaginatively went for first-night cast tickets. I hang my head in shame) – and both nights it was the undeniable highlight of the evening. Sambé just gets better and better, unimaginably so given how good he was when I first saw him. He's reached that place in my mind where he can't do anything wrong. In my mind and also in reality. He relishes this role so much, of course not just in the choreographic fireworks but in the character and wit. The jumps are so high, the smile so infectious, the timing impeccable. Apparently Edward Villella, the role's creator, described the ballet as one huge grin and that's manifest and more in Sambé's interpretation. Hayward is of course also extremely good but, unusually for Balanchine (or at least for the way I think about Balanchine), Tarantella seems to me to be all about the man: the woman gets outrageously difficult steps but rarely the same chance to show off. There are moments, though, when Hayward can get her personality through, most strikingly in the stupidly deep pliés on pointe. But almost regardless of the choreography, Tarantella is a showcase of this exciting dance duo, so remarkably well attuned in technique and charisma.
Wheeldon has made small revisions to Strapless for this its first revival. Unfortunately the only benefit they bring is that Strapless now ends slightly earlier than it did before, and correspondingly I've spent slightly less of my life watching Strapless than I would otherwise have done. There's many a Wheeldon ballet I hold close to my heart but, probably needless to say, Strapless is not one of them: I find it appallingly dull and a waste of the magnificent dance talent that stars in it. The story is the biggest problem, but I guess some of the fault must also lie with Turnage's score. I found it quite beguiling when we heard the first rehearsals down the tannoy back in 2016 and I still like to think that it could be rescued in another ballet: but here it lacks the oomph that might have tided us through this uninteresting story and the elegant but pointless choreography that goes with it. Ok, enough moaning. Natalia Osipova dances very beautifully. The rest of the cast are very good, though we don't get to see that much from them. Hopefully with this revival out of the way they can go back to bestowing their talents on worthier Wheeldons.
Symphonic Dances is a great evening finisher, especially if you've been enjoying a tipple in the previous two intervals. It's maybe less fun if you haven't, but that might say more about me than about the ballet. Scarlett has provided a fun, well-constructed, camp and silly homage to the Royal Ballet that I think is an interesting meld of heartfelt and intelligent tribute with straightforward, unabashed Rachmaninoff relish. The tribute part first. This is Zenaida Yanowsky's last new work with the Royal Ballet and she stalks regally about the stage as only she can. A corps of young dancers variously worship her, scamper from her and try to prevent her from leaving. The sprightly (read, small) James Hay is a key worshipper, perhaps reviled by the corps for his close, filial relationship with the beloved goddess. Not so the stately (read, tall) Reece Clarke, who solemnly partners Yanowsky as literally no other present dancer in the company is able to do. This set-up leads naturally into an enjoyable exploration of gender stereotype reversal, which itself leads naturally and no less enjoyably into much swishing of foofy skirts in time to the music. If you like Rachmaninoff, Yanowsky and men in swishy skirts then this ballet is for you. Complaints? I suppose it is a bit odd in a ballet that is such a blatant tribute to have Yanowsky stationary for large portions of it, and apparently (spoiler!) squished by a massive screen at the very end. That screen itself – why is it there, and why doesn't it work properly? Paul complains that the whole red and black swishy skirt/butch tunic thing is very TK Maxx. Well, no matter: Symphonic Dances is highly entertaining, and as with everything else in this bill, it is gorgeously danced.
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