Posted 24 September 2012 - 04:30 AM
I would love to comment fully on this company that has always been a favourite visitor to London, but a busy schedule meant I was only able to get to one performance. I saw Programme C and confess that four works completely new to me is my idea of ballet heaven.
The opening Beaux by Mark Morris had interesting choreography but strangely it didn’t seem to work with the dancers behind the music in places, I’d like to see it again though but perhaps with a different cast. The following piece, Classical Symphony, has to compete with my memories of what Lavrovsky did to the same music, but Possokhov has created a ballet of dazzling dexterity to the very familiar music and the mystery of why the Morris piece looked a little under-danced was to some extent solved as I imagine the company’s male virtuosos were held back for this demanding work. In places I found the choreography a bit frantic but some passages were quite breathtaking in their virtuosity and it was clear that despite the difficulty of the steps the dancers performed with astonishing ease. After the interval we got the one narrative work of the evening, Raku, again by Possokhov and the in-your-face drama of the piece had a massive effect on the audience. Time and again choreographers are attracted to Japanese themes with varying results but this was a very superior effort with a fabulous role for YuanYuan Tan and a score that put me in mind of Khatchaturian in places. Though I think the history of the events portrayed was probably not known to the audience. They saved the very best till last with a fabulous Wheeldon piece called Within the Golden Hour, a gorgeous ballet of stunning invention and beautifully danced by the company. The evening seemed to get better as it went along and the audience were clearly enjoying themselves throughout. SFB doesn’t visit London often enough, though the same can be said of the other US companies, but they always impress, that’s for sure.
I think the comments comparing the RB with this company are probably down to the very random standards of performance now prevalent there. Too many performances are marred by indifferent attitudes from the dancers and it is rare to come away from an evening of the RB without comparing unfavourably to the reputation the company had in the past. Kevin O’Hare has a lot to do if the Royal Ballet is ever to be considered top flight again.
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