From classic tutus and tiaras to an avant-garde reworking of Greek myth and a soul-filling elegy dreamily performed with a live soprano, this quadruple bill is about as diverse, and challenging for the dancers, as they come. Naturally, this superb company is absolutely up to it, and, as importantly, always up for it.
It kicks offs grandly with George Balanchine’s 1947 Theme and Variations set to Tchaikovsky’s sumptuously magnificent Orchestral Suite no.3. There was immediate applause as the curtain rose for the glittering costumes, bronze panelled walls and glittering modernist chandeliers.
A play on the grand traditions of Imperial Russian choreography, it’s a bombastic parade of classical lines, terrifyingly tricky flickering footwork and flashy set pieces. At times, it’s exhausting just to watch so I’m simply in awe of the dancers. The company were quite superb and this is an undeniably exhilarating crowd-pleaser that leaves you on a real high.
It would be impossible for the second piece to be any more different. On a stark black stage with Miro-eaque squiggly white lines, Martha Graham’s 1947 modernist Errand into the Maze, is inspired by the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, except the protagonist is now a woman and her enemy represents her fears.
Emily Suzuki and Rentaro Nakaaki both wowed, with confident, expressive movements, tackling the jagged, jutting angular choreography with superb control and artistry. Even more impressive, he danced throughout with his arms restrained by a wooden stave in cactus position. I confess I’m usually more a fan of the more lyrical end of ballet, but I found this piece, and the two dancers, utterly engrossing. Fabulous stuff.
We then whipped straight into a regular ENB delight, William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman (Quintet). Five dancers in dark orange velvet, dart and whirl in and out of formations, sometimes mirroring, sometimes doing their own thing. The music is a little like a cat dancing down a piano keyboard, constant starts and stops and crashing accents that require absolute precision alongside a sense of wild abandon.
It’s heady fun, danced with exhilarating brio and precision by Caroline Galvao, Aitor Arrieta, Alice Bellini, Swanice Luong and Rhys Antoni Yeomans. It’s a little unfair to single one out, but my eye was constantly drawn to Yeomans, such coiled power and graceful ease is a heady combination. But all five contribute to a fan favourite that is an irresistible blast of joy to watch.
The final piece is a striking counterpoint to the opener. Again, a breathtaking curtain-lift reveal, this time a landscape of dark slate with a horizontal panel showing a monochrome cloudy sky.
Set to Richard Strauss’ hauntingly melancholic final works just before his 1949 death, David Dawson’s hypnotically immersive 2023 Four Last Songs left me in an almost dream state. Clad in nude bodysuits, the dancers somehow fluidly become the music, aching and yearning in outstretched limbs to soprano Madeleine Pierard’s exquisite voice.
Dawson certainly loves a lift or three, and the women are constantly being thrust into the air in muted ecstasy. Holds that would be ravishing in a single pas de deux cascade constantly across the six couples. Some find it too much, I think it’s glorious.
As the piece reaches its end, Pierard (standing stage left), turns toward the dancers. Arm outstretched, she almost makes contact with one as he sweeps by. I think I forgot to breathe. Perfection.
Note: On opening night in Theme and Variations, guest principal Ricardo Castellanos from Norwegian National Ballet looked ill at ease, fumbling a major lift and leaving an impressively composed Alice Mariani from La Scala a little adrift. However, different pairs will lead of the rest of the run.
ENB’S R:EVOLUTION AT SADLER’S WELLS TO OCTOBER 8