Dance: At full stretch
The Royal Ballet’s trio of new works by British choreographers is satisfyingly challenging. By Clifford Bishop for The Sunday Times:


If the aim was to batter us into submission and make us sorry that we’d ever asked, however, it hasn’t worked. Putting three new commissions on at the Royal Opera House, alongside a piece of orientalist fantasy from Mark Morris, is certainly a recipe for embarrassment of some kind. Luckily for us, and for the Royal Ballet, it turns out to be an embarrassment of riches.

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I am in complete agreement with the majority of the London critics that this was one of the best RB programmes for some time, especially as it featured three new works by British dance makers.

Russell Maliphant is one of the most interesting choreographers working today and his "Broken Fall" fully deserved the 7 or 8 curtain calls it received. The combination of the fluent movement for the three dancers and Sylvie Guillem's heart stopping balances on backs, shoulders and so on plus the deft catches made for a rivetting piece of dance. some said it would be better on a small stage, but the way these artists projected filled the space.

"Gong" didn't engage me, despite the fact that Mark Morris is a favourite of mine. The combination of classical ballet and faux-orientalism just doesn't work for me. It may be that my position to one side of the stage broke the pattern creation that is one of his strengths, but ÉNB's "Drink To Me Only" is a much more successful piece.

William Tuckett's melancholy pas de deux "Proverb" gave Zenaida Yanowsky a chance to show her emotionally charged and athletic dance style with fine support from Adam Cooper. Wayne McGregor's "Qualia" has much contrasting material and ends with as steamy a pas de deux as the Royal Opera house has seen for some time.

I look forward to seeing all three of the new UK pieces again and I take my hat off to Monica Mason for commissioning such a fascinating programme.

<small>[ 05 January 2004, 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>