LEST WE FORGET · 08/09/2015 

ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET (Liam Scarlett, Russel Maliphant & Akram Khan)

I really don´t know what Jonathan Gray (Editor of the Dancing Times Magazine) will say about this, but I would dare say it´s probably one of the best pieces of the season. It was touching, hypnotic and powerful, and as the lights turned back on again and I turned around to see the audience´s reaction I discovered some of them were in tears, that was it´s impact on the people who had had the great pleasure of seeing this ballet.

Some time ago I read an interview to Vadim Muntagirov, he used to dance for the English National Ballet. He complaint about not having the chance to dance other choreographies but the classics, and having to rehearse over and over again the same pieces, which in a way it´s true, the ENB hasn´t got the resources of the ROH, where he has moved, so they can´t offer their audience different ballets throughout the same week. But Soon enough they´ll have their own headquarters in Canary Wharf and they are betting for the best choreographers already. Last season they showed Modern Masters, which was absolutely stunning , with pieces by Jiri Kylian, John Neumeier and William Forsythe, and now commissioning Liam Scarlett, Russel Maliphant and Akram Khan to bring us Lest We Forget. I would´t be surprised if Muntagirov regreted having left at least a little bit.

Image by Alice Pennefather

Lest We Forget tells us about the tragedy and misfortunes of the World War I. Liam Scarlett´s is the first piece of the triple bill, he is an amazing storyteller and he focuses on how the war reorganised society to allow women to change their roll in it. They stopped being mere housewives to work in factories and take the roles the men had left vacant. He portrays the wait of these women for their men, their brothers, their sons their husbands...

The set by Jon Bausor reveals a dirty and dusty ammunition factory, divided in two main areas connected by stairs with a ramp in between: one front stage free of any atrezzo which allows dancers perform in big groups and a second at the back of the stage which displays a number of women executing monotonous industrial movements.

Image by ASH

I must take the chance to highlight Crystal Costa´s performance, it was her debut in this role and she was beyond brilliant. Keep an eye on her, because she was so sharp in her technique and yet so expressive, she definitely touched me.

Image by Emma Kauldhar

The second piece is Maliphant´s creation for this topic Second Breath, which I presume must have been quite a challenge for him, as his style is quite abstract, and this time he had a theme to develop. The music by Andy Cowton makes the audience´s heartbeat synchronise and that makes gets us involved in the performance. It´s amazing how the music choice can make the piece work as a whole and get the audience to feel what the dancers are trying to communicate.

Image by John Ross

The last of the choreographies of the night totally struck me. The lighting becomes a key element and I would think the people who saw this performance at the Glastombury Festival last summer missed that dramatic quality. 

Image by ASH

Akram Khan´s creation Dust is fluid and which includes several of his signature movements, blending traditional indian steps with contemporary dance. He understands how to use set and lighting to favor his dancers´ movements. The set is simple, some sort of hill at the back of the stage but the lighting completes it. Sander Loonen (set design) and Fabiana Piccioli (lights) must have worked closely together to come up with this environment of loss and hopelessness. The costumes by Kimie Nakano were earthy and wavy, which gave Khan´s steps that fluidity but at the same time that industrial look. It all worked beautifully together, and then there was the music by Jocelyn Pook, so enveloping and passionate, I´m sure it highly contributed to generate those tears in some of those audience members´ eyes. 

When all of those elements work that well together you´re looking to nothing but PERFECTION.

DON GIOVANNI · 12/06/2015 

MOZART AT THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

KASPER HOLTEN

Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, more well-known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was actually nicknamed Amadeus (ama deus) meaning loved by God because his talent couldn´t come but from heaven. He was born on 27th January 1756 in Salzburg, originally Bavaria, so unlike most people might think, he wasn´t Austrian but Bavarian. He died long before Salzburg became part of Austria, on the 5th of December 1791. When he moved to Vienna to work he was regarded as a foreigner.

He performed in Royal courts at a very early age given his skills, he was proficient at both the keyboard and the violin. At the age of 17 he became the official musician at the Salzburg court, but unpleased, by the limitations that prevented him to dedicate himself fully to his music, he decided to move to Vienna where he was hoping to find a freer scene that would allow him to experiment way further. He produced around 600 pieces, of which one was Don Giovanni, an extraordinary opera in two acts about passion, treason and excesses. 

Mozart, Image from Wikipedia

The story is quite well-known to most of us, it was based on a play by Tirso de Molina, El Burlador de Sevilla, (1630); then versioned by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, or as we know him: Molière, with the title of Tartuffe (1664). But in any case, it tells the story of a Spanish nobleman renowned in Europe as a seducer of women. His servant, Leporello, accompanies him and reluctantly does Don Giovanni´s will. One night, as D. Giovanni tried to sneak out from Donna Anna´s chamber he is taken aback by the lady´s father who rebukes him, they have a quarrel and the struggle ends up with the murder of D. Anna´s father, (The Commendatore) at the hands of the nobleman. D. Anna couldn´t see the scene but she herd the murder´s voice, still unable to identify her father´s executioner she implores her fiancé to find him and avenge her farther for her.

D. Giovanni feels no remorse whatsoever and continues to seduce women, one of which is Donna Elvira, who despite having discovered her lover´s licentious nature she can´t help to love him still. Mozart writes for her one of the most beautiful arias in the opera, Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata. As an entertainment our nobleman turns up at a wedding where he tries to allure young Zerlina and he walks her away from her groom Massetto, who is really disturbed by the whole situation. Not long after that D. Giovanni is revealed by D. Elvira as the libertine he is and soon D. Anna will recognise his voice as the same of her father´s killer. Still, the cheeky nobleman gets away with everything, until Death in the looks of his victim appears to give him the option to change his ways and become a better man. D. Giovanni expectedly rejects its offer and Death takes him away.

There are a lot of peak moments during the opera, one I´ve already mentioned. Dorothea Röchschmann was mind-blowing in the part of D. Elvira and she interpreted Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata beautifully and a "BRAVA!" was heard from the amphitheatre left while the rest of the audience broke into applause, but it was Albina Shagimuratova and her performance of Non mi dir that really shrank my heart. I had to make a big effort not to clap! It´s such a sincere song, calm at the beginning and rises in crescendo to finish off at a climax with the phrase "Sentirà pietà di me".

Albina Shagimuratova as Donna Anna Image by Bill Cooper

Rolando Villazón was just all that you could have expected from him, he sings the role of Don Ottavio, he has a few intense moments but I have to highlight his Dalla Sua Pace and his Calmate, Idol Mio. He sings with such passion and so truthfully; he might not have the most powerful voice, but he has a very distinctive one and he uses it to interpret his character as faithful as it´s humanly possible. Unlike some other opera singers, he doesn´t only sing a role, he becomes that character and I can´t but adore his work. It is not surprising that his Mexican singer was once trained to be a ballet dancer, he probably sunk in all these interpretation skills.

Christopher Maltman as Don Giovanni, Julia Lezhneva as Zerlina, Rolando Villazón as Don Ottavio, Albina Shagimuratova as Donna Anna Image by Bill Cooper

Our Don Giovanni is performed by Christopher Maltman, from whom you would have never expected to have been trained as a biochemist before becoming an opera singer. Maltman is a natural Don Giovanni, you can see how comfortable he performs the role, he gets the character and he brings us an arrogant and vain Don Giovanni with his powerful baritone voice. He seems so effortless when he projects his voice, it´s just a real pleasure to listen to him. He recently released a film based on Mozart´s opera, JUAN, directed by Kasper Holten, no wonder he was the chosen one to interpret the role.

Alex Esposito was somewhat more believable than Simon Bailey´s but we will have to excuse the latter as it was his second time performing the role, both bass-baritones were brilliant but maybe Esposito appeared to be a cheekier Leporello than Bailey. I must say I would have liked to have seen Elizabeth Watts in the part of Zerlina.

Christopher Altman as Don Giovanni, image by Bill Cooper

I was delighted to discover that Mozart´s Viva la Libertà wasn´t cut. Back in the day, when it was first staged on 29th October 1787, two years before the French Revolution, this piece was banned form being sung. The Emperor and Archiduke of Austria Joseph II, Mozart´s protector and brother to Marie Antoinette, was aware of the situation his sister was up against. She had been married at the age of 15 to Louise XVI of France, and we all know what happened to them during the French Revolution of 1789, they both got their heads chopped. By the time Don Giovanni was premiered the environment in France was already very tumultuous and on the verge of a violent revolution, so Joseph II censored that piece, since it brought people from all classes and stratums together to sing to Liberty. The Emperor thought it might encourage the masses to stand up against the system.

But to talk of the Royal Opera House´s production of Don Giovanni is to talk about its set and lighting design. The set was designed by Es Devlin, you can understand how she wasn´t scared of going big with the set of Don Giovanni, if you look into her Bio you´ll find that she was responsible for the Closing Ceremony of London Olimpics 2012 and she has worked for artists such as Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys and many more. She has also worked for many other theatres and Opera Houses around the world. Her work is just mind blowing. 

Set design by Es Devlin, Image by Bill Cooper

At a first glance you might think you are only getting a simple flat structure with some stairs and doors and a nice projection on it, until the simple structure starts rotating to discover it´s not a flat plane but a cube, and that projection rotates perfectly along with it. But it doesn´t finish there, because the walls can be moved to create new chambers and what was before a room becomes a balcony. Also, when on tour, bear in mind that not all stages are exactly the same as the Royal Opera´s and thus the projection had to be adapted to the given setting, which I´m sure takes some hard work to make it function simultaneously with the rotation of the stage, this task was carried out by Luke Halls, video designer, and his team.

The costumes were designed by Anja Van Kragh, they are totally hand made, even the fabrics are tinted in-house. Donna Anna´s pink dress was something beyond beauty; dyed and hand-painted, it was such a piece of art.

It was a magnificent production, the attention to detail is astonishing. They´ve set the bar high for other opera houses to bit it. The mount of hard work in every field is unimaginable. 

LIFE IN PROGRESS · 29/05/2015 

SYLVIE GUILLEM (Akram Kahn, Russell Maliphant, William Forsythe & Mats Ek)

In November 2014 Sylvie Guillem announced her retirement form stages. this news struck the dancing community but at least she got together four of the most influential contemporary choreographers to come up with a way to properly say goodbye to her audience.

Sylvie Guillem is one of the most important ballet dancers of this century and part of the previous one. It's not hard to see that she was first trained as a gymnast in her early years, given her physical features and skills. Her mum instructed her in that discipline and it wasn't until she had the chance to participate in a training exchange, where ballet and gymnastic students were invited to try the other techniques that she had her first contact with classical ballet. At first she disliked the experience but it was when she jumped on stage for the first time that her opinion drastically changed, she felt so comfortable and enjoyed it so much that she decided to stay at the Paris Opera Ballet School where Claude Bessy soon noticed her potential and at age 16 she offered Guillem a place at the corp de ballet at the Paris Opera.

With the Paris Opera Ballet, image by Sipe Press/REX

Guillem is well-known for her stubborn character which made her collide in opinion with Rudolf Nureyev, choreographer at the Paris Opera at the time, and so she shortly decided to move to London to dance as a guest principal at the Royal Ballet. Her career hasn't been only going in the path of classical ballet but she has also explored other dancing styles and disciplines. She has worked with many contemporary choreographers, whom I presume have been delighted to have been able to exploit Guillem's skills and features.

Life in Progress is a big goodbye to her audience, who where not so concerned about the choreographies, music or settings but rather about seeing her in action for the last time. This multiple bill is composed of four parts of which Guillem dances three. The last piece of the four really felt as a farewell, it was choreographed by Mats Ek, director of the Netherlands Ballet, for her in 2011, which makes me think Guillem had been thinking about her retirement ever since. 

Bye, by Mats Ek, image by Tristam Kenton

The piece has the charm of Ek's style aswell as clearly portraying a middle-aged woman looking back into her past in a healthy nostalgia. It was easy to understand and it even made the audience laugh and smile at certain moments. She felt the closet to the audience in this piece, it felt like we were saying our farewells as we would have to a friend. The set was simple, a vertical screen in the middle of the stage that would act both as a mirror to look into her image and her memories and a door through where her loved ones would call her with them. The music was extremely moving and I think it suited not only the choreography but also the moment and the topic.

Techne, by Akram Kahn, image by Bill Cooper

In my opinion, and only in my opinion, the other pieces didn't appeal to me that much, still people applauded her with all her might, and so did I, for regardless of her age or her health complaints, she was still in full shape and she performed beautifully. She has an innate elegance and I just regret not having seen her dance earlier.

We all hope she doesn't abandon the dance world and that her charity duties still allow her to delight us with her genius and her strong character, one way or another, from a different position to the one she has been holding till the moment of her retirement, maybe as a director of a ballet company or a school.

AFTERNOON OF A FAUN · 30/05/2015 

JEROME ROBBINS

When I first saw on the Royal Opera House's program that they were going to stage Afternoon of a Faun I thought I shouldn't miss the chance to see it. I knew it was a revival of Nijinsky's original ballet for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, but I didn't realise it was a Jerome Robbin's choreography. Some of you will know straight away who I'm talking about, some of you won't but I'm pretty sure you will as soon as I tell you that he was the choreographer for many popular Hollywood musical films such as West Side Story or Peter Pan. 

Jerome Robbins rehearsing for West Side Story

Robbins was a theatre producer and a choreographer who worked mostly for the industry in Broadway, but who occasionally produced and supervised musical films and TV programs. He was ballet master at the New York City Ballet when he produced this choreography to Claude Debussy's score Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune based on a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé. This ballet was first created by Vaslav Nijisnky in 1912, again with Debussy's score which inspired a drowsy atmosphere that was the general feel given in both Nijinsky's and Jerome's versions. 

Nijinsky's Afternoon of a Faun, Image by Drew Milne 

The settings in both ballets do change a lot though, while Nijisnky's version is a more literal one, picturing an actual faun, played by himself, seducing a nymph; Robbin's version takes us to a more realistic set where he presents us with a male dancer lying on the floor, later joined by a female dancer in a three walled studio, where the third wall is the mirror through which the audience seems to be beholding the scene.

Muntagirov and Hamilton, image by Emma Kauldhar

Robbin's ballet was premièred in 1953 and the set and costumes were designed by Jean Rosenthal and Irene Sharaff respectively. I was glad to see that the Royal Ballet had stayed faithful to these original designs from that time, therefore we were able to enjoy this beautiful choreography as those who had the chance to see it on it's first staging.

Muntagirov and Hamilton, image by Emma Kauldhar

Vadim Muntaguirov and Melissa Hamilton danced beautifully with an extremely polished technique that brought nothing but purity to the stage, it all felt so ethereal despite being set in such a earthly scenario, probably unlike Nijinsky's version, which in spite of having a mythological background was way less spiritual. The soothing music, the smooth mid-day lighting and the unblemished set design along with the immaculate performances of these two very talented dancers took the audience to the neatest production imaginable. It only lasted for 11 minutes but it was the absolute star show of the triple bill that night.

WOOLF WORKS · 14/05/2015 

WAYNE MCGREGOR

This is probably one of McGregors most ambitious projects. It's a new full-length narrative ballet in three acts about Virginia Woolf, one of the most acclaimed British writers in the 20th century, and her complex literary works. McGregor gets his inspiration to create this ballet from three of Woolf's works: Mrs Dalloway (first act), Orlando (second act) and The Waves (third act). 

McGregor is Resident Choreographer in both the Sadler's Wells and the Royal Ballet, but it was the latter that commissioned him to create this piece. He admits to have felt overwhelmed by the project at first, given the topic, since Woolf is such an important figure in the international literature, he wanted to make justice to the beauty of her work. He finally realised that he could do nothing but create a piece about his own experience of Woolf's works.

Edward Watson, Image by Tristram Kenton

The first act I Now, I Then is based on Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway (1925). In McGregors creation, Mrs Dalloway shifts in time, showing her in different times of her life, remembering when she had the sweetest moment with her friend Sally. It also portrays the tormented Septimus Warren Smith, who struggles to understand why is he seeing his dead friend Evans. 

The coming and goings of characters are helped by the set and lighting design, which I thought was quite clever despite its simplicity. It was made up of three different sized squared structures that were in constant rotation, the stage back was in the dark most of the time which enabled the dancers to access the rotational structures unseen by the audience, so they appeared inside these structures and joined the choreography when needed. That's how we saw Evans appearing out of the blue, all dressed in his military suit, it really gave the impression he was some kind of spectre. The music for this piece was almost cinematographic and it reached a climax half way through the performance, the score was specially commissioned to Max Richter.

 Alessandra Ferri, Image by Tristram Kenton

 It was astonishing to see 52 year old Alessandra Ferri, former Royal Ballet Principal, dancing beautifully along side Francesca Hayward. The fluidity of the movements in this first act contrasts with those in the second. 

Gary Avis, Steven McRae and Paul Kay, Image by Tristram Kenton

The second act was based on Orlando (1928), Becomings. It's a game of gender, in the book the main character gradually shifts from a man to a woman, and I guess McGregor wanted to play to that game of changing the gender aswell, and we could see men grabbing and lifting men and we could see female dancers doing the same, their costumes didn't define their sex and the only thing that gave them away was the pointe shoes, since only female dancers use them. The costumes were Elizabethan style but still both men and women couldn't be told a part, throughout the piece the Elizabethan garments were gradually dropped and the dancers ended up in basic full-body dark maillots, which completely de-sexualised them, making them totally neutral.

Edward Watson and Natalia Osipova, Image by Tristram Kenton

The score was not as melodic as in the previous movement, it had some sense of disorder and movements were sharper and abrupt. It was a more chaotic piece, assisted by flashing lasers shot to the balconies, across dense fog. I'm afraid I must agree with Luke Jennings (The Guardian) and I don't think these technical features added much to the choreography which I thought was awesome, maybe it was designed to just add more instability to this already frantic dance.

 Image by Tristram Kenton

In the third and last act, Tuesday, based on Woolf's The Waves (1931), "[...] the ballet rediscovers its focus",  Luke Jennings (The Guardian), I would have said it goes back to calm. Jennings thinks McGregor looses his point in the second act, but I just see it as a way to portray Woolf's bipolar disorder. In any case, the third act is nothing but serenity, accompanied by a beautiful projection of waves in the background, it felt like it was Virginia's farewell before she went deep into the water forever. Movements a more paused and music gentler. We can also listen to Virginia Woolf's letter to her husband before parting to her non-returning journey, on the voice of Gillian Anderson. I thought it was a nice touch, given that The Waves consists of soliloquies spoken by a number of characters. 

Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli, Image by Tristram Kenton

It's very brave from The Royal Opera House to risk their funds and reputation on pieces like this, I think that is what makes The Royal Ballet so exciting, they will put up the most classical of ballets one day and the next they'll be putting all their resources at the service of a extremely talented choreographer to develop such a complicated ballet as Woolf's Works. I'll be paying attention to the program for next season and I'll definitely get myself a ticket to see Raven Girl, an earlier work by McGregor, also commissioned by the Royal Ballet.

http://www.randomdance.org/

LA FILLE MAL GARDEE · 24/04/2015 

FREDERICK ASHTON

I remember growing up watching this ballet on VHS from my mum's collection, with Lesley Collier as Lise, and Michael Coleman as Colas. I know the music off by heart, as well as the storyline, so it was such an experience being able to see it live at the Royal Opera House. It's one of Ashton's most popular and joyful ballets. There are many versions of La Fille Mal Gardee but Ashton's is one of the most well-known and it's a classic at the Royal Opera House.

Lesley Collier and Michael Coleman  

This ballet was first created and choreographed by the Ballet Master Jean Dauberval, he was inspired by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin's 1789 painting, "La réprimande/Une jeune fille querellée par sa mère". It was first performed on 1 July 1789, but the ballet has seen many versions and changes ever since, even in the score used for it. Ashton's version uses music by Ferdinand Hérold, as oposed to Hertel's music used in previous revivals, and he then commissioned John Lanchbery, the ROH's composer and conducter, to arrange the music for the purpose, he also composed the music for the famous clog dance. 

This ballet has been revived by many Ballet Masters before Ashton: Giuseppe Solomoni (1800); Jean-Pierre Aumer (1828), with Hérold's music; Paul Taglioni (November, 1864); Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (December, 1885); Alexander Gorsky ( December 1903); Bronislava Nijinska (1941), known as The Wayward Daughter; Ashton (January, 1960). I'm sure there are many other versions arranged by many other Masters around Europe though.

Muntagirov, Morera and Kay, image by Tristam Kenton

The Royal Opera House has staged Ashton's version for decades after he choreographed his revival and he introduced one of the most acclaimed pieces, the clog dance. It is an extremely funny little dance performed by Lise's mother and four other clog dancers. The music for this piece was commissioned by Ashton specially to suit this purpose. It brought me so many memories, it was my sister's an my favourite part of the ballet, and couldn't but smile all throughout. William Tuckett did a great job in portraying the character of the Wayward widow, a character that he kept on playing even after the ballet was over, he kept in character while he was bowing.

William Tuckett as the Wayward Widow, image by Nigel Norrington

It had been quite some time since I had last seen the amazingly talented Laura Morera dance, and it was such a delight to find her so brilliant and charming in the role of Lise. She didn't just dance to technical perfection but also performed the role that seemed to come so naturally to her. Vadim Muntagirov played the role of Colas, he is such a talented dancer, so sharp in his technique and so powerful in his jumps, russian dancers have that flair, don't they? But he spent a long while training in the UK, thus the neat feet. Nevertheless I thought they didn't quite pair up, Colas is meant to be a cheeky young man, and Muntagirov has cheekiness, however it seems to me like it's the cheekiness of a teenager rather than a full grown up man. This is probably my fault since I'm so used to see Michael Coleman as Colas, and I can't help comparing them. 

Muntagirov as Colas, image by Tristam Kenton

I must not forget to mention Paul Kays portrayal of the simple but cute Alain. It is a difficult part to play, since it's tricky to get all the unusual movements and positions Ashton developed for this character, as they had to look naturally clumsy. He achieved that level and on top of that his expression was that of a red-neck which I totally bought and laughed at. 

I was also surprised to find out that Dauberval's original scenario had remained intact, and the Royal Ballet had kept faithful to it, so the set was re-built taking in account the original designs. La Fille Mal Gardee must be a fun ballet to perform, the audience definitely enjoys it, you can hear them giggle and laugh all throughout the show and it gives a good chance for people who have never been to the ballet go for the first time and enjoy not only the virtuosity of the dancers but also their performances, there is a lot of acting and mimicking that makes it amusing for new comers and children.

It was a magical experience attending to the Royal Opera House with my mum and sister to see this ballet in particular, it meant a lot to me. We will now wait anxiously for the Royal Ballet to put up La Bayadere. 

THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS · 08/04/2015 & 14/04/2015

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE · GEORGE BALANCHINE

Balanchine is regarded as one of the most important contemporary choreographers in the world, such is the case that his pieces are still being performed by ballet companies in many opera houses these days. They are so timeless that one easily forgets that they were first performed in the first decades of the 20th century. 

The Four Temperaments was one of his earliest experimental pieces, he completed it around 1946, for the opening program of the Ballet Society in New York. The name is taken from a popular belief in Medieval times that said humans are made of four different humors that determined one´s temperament. Based upon this belief, Balanchine named his four variations after the different temperaments a human being could present: MELANCHOLIC, SANGUINIC, PHLEGMATIC & CHOLERIC. Therefore, the ballet is composed of three initial short themes, followed by these four variations. 

Yasmine Naghdi, Steven McRae, Emma Maguire :: image by Dave Morgan

It is a ballet choreographed for 25 dancers, so there were many big names on the program that night, many principals performing, and it was a good chance to see what the Royal Ballet is capable of. Balanchine´s contemporary choreographies must be very difficult to perform. He forces his dancers to acquire unusual positions, bend their knees and move their hips in a non-classical way which, I´m sure it can sometimes result in twisted injuries. Dancers need to craft their bodies to perfection and only those to that technical standard can perform Balanchine´s work and adopt and adapt to those utterly complicated positions. 

When that technical hurdle is over with, dancers need to work on their expression. It´s not enough when a coach just tells the artist to smile because the music is cheerful, or appear melancholic if this is the state of mind they are supposed to be in. I´ve noticed in certain performers whose expression, despite their polished technique, seems a bit fake. A blissful music doesn´t mean you have to smile as though you are on a toothpaste advert, you have to feel the music and react to it, but I guess that´s the most difficult feature to learn as an artist. To some this comes naturally and some performances both on the 8th and the 14th were absolutely astonishing, not only because their technique was nothing but perfection but also because you could see that they were feeling the music and they were, after all performing a role.

Itziar Mendizabal & Valeri Hristov :: Image by Dave Morgan

I must point out several dancers. Steven McRae and Edward Watson were breathtaking, it was the first time I had ever seen Watson performe and I was speechless. A new discovery those two nights, and I was delighted to find out that she came from my own country: Itziar Mendizabal, from the Basque Country, trained by Elvira Ubierna, then by Victor Ullate. She´s danced in several companies over Europe to end up as First Soloist at the Royal Ballet. She was astonishing both nights, in different roles.

I´d also like to praise Robert Clarks performance at the piano, he palyed with swiss accuracy a complicated piano piece by Paul Hindemith.

UNTOUCHABLE · 08/04/2015 & 14/04/2015

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE · HOFESH SHECHTER

It is the first Shechter choreography I´ve ever had the chance to see. Shechter is an israeli born choreographer, dancer and musician. He has quite a mixed background when you read a little about him, which most likely helps him as a choreographer, he seems to be one of those artists who gets involved in every aspect of the production.

Untouchable seems to portray a wild society which strives to keep its humanity, in a global world as we live in today it seems as though when someone tries to stand out or untether form the group it almost immediately get sucked in by the crowd again. It´s a piece which dance and music wraps you and almost mesmerises you into joining them, in their organic movements and its vibrant percussion.

Image by Dave Morgan

Shechter does a great job with a corps de ballet that is not used to such lawless movements, all dancers have work really hard to get the grip of a dance style their bodies are not generally trained for. It all looks so fluid and the fog and lighting creates the perfect environment for these dancers to glide and jump as a whole over the stage.

Judith Mackrell from The Guardian states that Untouchable is far from Shechter´s best, to which I can´t nor agree or disagree, since it´s the first time I ever got the chance to see anything by him. She might be right, and it is true that "the choreography meanders away into repetition" as she says, but it´s the first time he ever choreographs for the Royal Ballet, and we don´t know what they briefed him, also I think it´s a good piece as an introduction of what he and his work can become in the company. It definitely caught my attention and I can´t wait to get hold of a DVD with earlier works.

Image by Dave Morgan

The dancers synchronised beautifully and it got my heart beating well hard to their dance and the music, which I thought was hypnotising. The set design was physically nonexistent but rather environmentally there, the fog and the lighting design made the audience believe we were in some kind of rain-forest.

At the end of the performance you could hear how much the audience had liked it, people wouldn´t stop cheering, yelling and clapping, and the reason for that was that Shechter´s piece, regardless of certain repetition and what critics might say, had made them travel in time and space and it had made them feel something different, and that is what dance is all about!

http://www.hofesh.co.uk/