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Birmingham Royal Ballet at Sadler's Wells

 “E = mc2”, “Tombeaux”, “Still Life at the Penguin Café”
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
15-16 October 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judithi Cruickshank

Gremlins appear whenever the Birmingham Royal Ballet moves into Sadler’s Wells Theatre, or so claimed David Bintley, the company’s Artistic Director when he appeared before the waiting audience on the first night of the company’s London season.  Not one but two small fires in the grid had broken out and damaged the computerised flying system.  Despite a day spent trying to solve the problem Bintley regretted that “you won’t see my ballets the way I would wish”.

A Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev

"Petrushka," "Songs of a Wayfarer," "Raymonda Act III"
English National Ballet
London Coliseum
25 – 27 July 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruickshank

It’s forty two years since Maurice Béjart created a duet for Rudolf Nureyev and Paolo Bortoluzzi to Mahler’s song cycle “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen”; “Songs of a Wayfarer”. The action shows a young man wandering through life, experiencing joy and sorrow, always accompanied by an alter ego who shares his experiences and finally reconciles him to death.  Nureyev was to dance it many times with many partners – though none quite as effective as Bortoluzzi – until very late in his career. 

The duet was the highlight of the performance given by the Paris Opera Ballet marking the tenth anniversary of Nureyev’s death.  Laurent Hilaire and Manuel Legris, dancers formed by Nureyev, gave a performance of such intense emotion that Béjart himself was almost reduced to tears. And it was certainly the highlight of English National Ballet’s Tribute to Nureyev programme, given just five performances at the London Coliseum.

A Delightful Doll

Coppélia
Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet
Erika Mikirticheva, Sergei Polunin, Anton Domashev
London Coliseum
11 – 14 July, 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruickshank 

I’m ashamed to admit that I couldn’t remember who danced Swanilda and Franz when Roland Petit brought his production of "Coppélia" for the Ballets de Marseille to London in 1977. A little research shows that the roles were taken by the gifted Cuban ballerina Loipa Araujo and the excellent Denys Ganio  A shocking failing you might say, to overlook dancers of this calibre, but my excuse is that the production was dominated to such an extent by Petit himself as Coppelius that the other performers faded into second place.

Marquez, Bonelli and Nuňez in "La Bayadère"

"La Bayadère"
The Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden
London
5 April 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruickshank

Poor Petipa. Later choreographers’ works are guarded fiercely, every step and every gesture preserved.  But no such respect is awarded to the choreographer responsible for the foundation stones of today’s classical repertory. He may indeed have been a “master of formal construction” as Professor Tim Scholl writes in his biographical programme note, but stagers of his ballets clearly feel free to add, subtract and adapt freely.

"Laurencia" in London

"Laurencia"
Choreography Vakhtang Chabukiani revised by Mikhail Messerer
Natalia Osipova, Ivan Vasiliev, soloists and dancers of the Mihailovsky Ballet
London Coliseum
2 and 3 April 2013

By Judith Cruikshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruikshank

The Mihailovsky Ballet is becoming a regular visitor to London, the current season being its third appearance in five years. The company has the advantage of a repertory which includes some interesting rarities. I remember a charming production of Petipa’s ‘Cavalry Halt’, extracts from ‘The fisherman and the Naiad’ on an earlier when the company was still known as the Maly, and a revival of Vakhtang Chabukiani’s ‘Laurencia’ staged by Mikhail Messerer was a highlight of the 2010 season and drew enthusiastic applause on this latest visit.

Ashton Celebrated

‘La Valse’, ‘Meditation’ from Thais’, ‘Voices of Spring’, ‘Monotones I and II’, ‘Marguerite and Armand’
The Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
London
15 February 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruickshank

At last, the Royal Ballet has offered us a complete programme of works by its founder choreographer, Frederick Ashton. That’s certainly something to be glad about. I hope I won’t seem too grudging if I say that I find the choice of ballets rather lightweight, presenting Ashton as primarily a choreographer of pretty bonbons. But even in his slightest pieces he shows a sure hand and exquisite sensibility.

A long dark evening

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
‘Two cigarettes in the dark’
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
London
14-17 February 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruikshank

It seems that London can’t get enough of Pina Bausch. Last summer saw a month long season by Tanztheater Wuppertal in which the company showed no fewer than ten of her theatre pieces; all city based works. Now the company is back at Sadler’s Wells with two pieces; "Two cigarettes in the dark" which was made in 1985 and the later "Vollmond" which dates from 2006.

Marianela Nunez's impressive debut in "Onegin"

"Onegin"
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Marianela Nuñez, Thiago Soares, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Valentino Zucchetti
Artists of the Royal Ballet
26 January, 2013

by Judith Cruickshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruickshank
 
Twelve thirty on a cold January morning is not perhaps the ideal time to plunge into two and a half hours of high romantic passion and despair, but that is what the exigencies of  scheduling at Covent Garden decreed for Marianela Nuñez’s debut as the heroine of John Cranko’s ‘Onegin’.  And it is a tribute to Nunez and her Onegin, Thiago Soares, (in real life, her husband) that at the final curtain several members of the audience sprang spontaneously to their feet to applaud the couple.

Tamara Rojo in English National Ballet's "Sleeping Beauty"

"The Sleeping Beauty"
English National Ballet
London Coliseum
9 January 2013

by Judith Cruikshank
copyright 2013 by Judith Cruikshank

If Tamara Rojo was feeling more than usually nervous before her performance on Wednesday evening it would have been understandable. English National Ballet was opening a run of that most challenging of ballets, "The Sleeping Beauty" as part of its London season, and Rojo, who took over the direction of the company from Wayne Eagling at the beginning of the season, was also dancing Aurora. Enough to test anyone’s composure you might think.

The Royal Ballet's Recent Triple Bill

"The Firebird," "In the Night," "Raymonda Act III"
The Royal Ballet
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London
22 December2012

by Judith Cruikshank
copyright 2012 by Judith Cruikshank

Like most other ballet companies around the world the Royal Ballet is in the middle of a long run of that perennial box office favourite, "The Nutcracker".  But to bring a little light into his dancers’ lives director Kevin O’Hare has introduced a mixed bill of ballets which have been in the company’s repertoire for some years, but have been little seen of late and it was interesting to see how a new generation of dancers coped with the demands made on them.