Within The Golden Hour/Medusa/Flight Pattern at the Royal Opera House

This week we went to see a triple bill of one act ballets danced by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House: 'Within The Golden Hour'. 'Medusa' and 'Flight Pattern'.

I've seen Christopher Wheeldon's 'Within The Golden Hour' before and this time it was just as mesmerising with its series of ensemble dances and duets, constant movement only slowing down to give you a chance to catch your breath. This time the dancers were in matching sparkly outfits which, I think, enhanced the performance. The repetitious and constant movement, the quick changes from one scene to the next and the excellent music all serve to draw you into the dance. Favourite dancers Sarah Lamb, Lauren Cuthbertson and Alexander Campbell all helped to lead the small troupe of dancers.

The second ballet was a new one and this was its third ever public performance, 'Medusa' by Sidi Larbi Cherkoui. It tells the tale of Medusa, a priestess of Athena who loves Perseus but is seduced by Neptune, cursed by Athena and then killed by Perseus. Not a happy tale. Enjoyable as it was, and with some excellent dancing, this ballet didn't quite work for me and I felt the staging and dramatic lighting sometimes seemed to over-shadow the dance. It'll be interesting to see what changes are made when it's revived in a few years time.

The final ballet was Crystal Pite's astonishing 'Flight Pattern'. I saw this ballet on its first run a couple of years ago and, when it was announced that it would feature in this season, it was the main reason for booking tickets. It's an incredibly powerful piece about forced migration, people fleeing their homes for their lives and seeking a safe haven. Virtually the whole piece is made up of a mass ensemble of dancers moving together, repetition and repetition, the huddled masses in grey all moving together, slowly but surely, with sometimes one or two dancers breaking away and taking a step forward or backwards, but always dissolving again nto the mass of dancers. The movement is relentless and powerful with messages of sorrow, hope and death and the survival of the human spirit. It's very contemporary, of course, and I think should be televised at some point to bring the tragedy of forced migration into our living rooms. There were 36 dancers on that stage led by Kristen McNally and Marcelino Sambe. Well done people.

This was a very successful evening and my favourite was 'Within The Golden Hour' for its joy and energy but 'Flight Pattern' will remain in my memory for a long time since it was staggeringly powerful and is an astonishing piece of work.

'Asphodel Meadows'/'The Two Pigeons' at the Royal Opera House

The current double-bill of ballets at the Royal Opera House is the one act 'Asphodel Meadows' and the two act 'The Two Pigeons', an interesting mix or an abstract and a narrative ballet. I like the double and triple bill programmes the Royal Ballet performs since they're a great opportunity to see different styles and dancers on the same evening. I've seen 'The Two Pigeons' before (with Steven McRae dancing the lead) but 'Asphodel Meadows' is a new one for me.

According to Wikipedia, Asphodel Meadows is the part of the ancient Greek underworld where ordinary go when they die. I've got no idea if that was in Liam Scarlett's mind when he choreographed the ballet but I suspect it might have been when, as the ballet opens, three dancers walked slowly backwards to the centre of the stage to begin the dancing. We see solo's, duos and groups dancing, ever changing and mixing up the pace, creating a strange vision in an abstract dance.

At one point, during a particularly jerky sequence, I was reminded of the 'Choreography' piece in 'White Christmas' while Danny Kaye sings about 'chaps who did taps aren't tapping anymore they're doing choreography'. But, you know what, I loved this short ballet in all it's weirdness and sometimes disjointed movements, it drew me in and made me wish it was longer than its 25 minutes. It was very elegant and I hope to see it again one evening.

'The Two Pigeons' is a more traditional ballet by Frederick Ashton with a straightforward story of young lovers. It opens in a Parisian artist's garret with a young artist painting his beloved who can't stop fidgeting. He's already feeling frustrated when his girlfriend's friends arrive so, when he sees a troupe of gypsies he invites them in as well and that's when he sees a beautiful gypsy girl. He's enchanted and leaves his girlfriend to run off to the gypsy camp to see his new girl. The girl's lover fights him (in dance form, of course) and he loses and is kicked out of the encampment. While walking home a pigeon lands in his arms and he takes it home with him. He makes up with his girlfriend and then a second pigeon flies into the garret as a lovebird. The end. So, not the most complicated of plots but, as ever, it's the dancing that matters.

Lauren Cuthertson danced the girlfriend as a playful and elegant young woman, very precise as always. The dancing was very pretty and delicate but I think I preferred the passion of the gypsy girls' dances and leaps and almost aggressive approach to dancing. I can quite understand the artist running off to the gypsy camp to escape the borderline annoyances of his girlfriend.

Of course, the gypsy girl turns out to not be very nice at all, taunting and teasing him during the fight with her lover so it's a hard lesson for the young artist. He goes home with his tail between his legs while his soppy girlfriends mourns the loss of love only to regain it a couple of minutes later.

I liked the playfulness of some of the dancing and Lauren was great as ever but, you know what? I preferred 'Asphodel Meadows' with its abstract patterns and dancing that kept my attention at all times. Well done Royal Ballet people!

Bernstein Triple Bill at the Royal Opera House

It's the centenary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein and to celebrate it the Royal Ballet has put on a triple bill of ballets at the Royal Opera House, including two new ballets specially commissioned for the event. We had 'Yugen' by Wayne McGregor, 'The Age of Anxiety' by Liam Scarlett and 'Corybantic Games' by Christopher Wheeldon. As ever, it was a packed house to see the Royal Ballet, especially because it was an opportunity to see new ballets for the first time.

First up was 'Yugen', choreographed by Wayne McGregor and featuring Principal Dancer Sarah Lamb. This was an abstract piece danced to the music of Bernstein and the Chichester Psalms sung in Hebrew by the Royal Opera Chorus. It was very atmospheric and the Chorus was in fine voice. It's easy to get lost in the twisting and the leaping, the lifting and the movement of the dancers, mesmerised by the sight in front of you, particularly to powerful music. I didn't really care what the dancers were trying to say, instead, I just revelled in the movement. My only criticism was about the red on red costumes with one leg wider than the other - I found it really distracting and ugly for some reason, but I loved the dance.

The second ballet was 'The Age of Anxiety' by Liam Scarlett that's been performed before but this was my first time to see it. This was a much more narrative affair and I enjoyed it the most - I recall thinking as I sat there towards the end that *this* is why I enjoy ballet. It tells a story through athletic movement and it shines a light on life, on us, and, hopefully, we learn from it.

The ballet opens in a bar in New York after the war when the troops are returning home. We see a woman on her own at the bar, an office worker sitting further along the bar, a young man in a booth and then in comes a sailor looking for fun. He's very metrosexual and happy to dance with the woman or the young man and even tries to steal the girl from the soldier that comes in later. He doesn't seem to care so long as he can celebrate life and surviving the war.

The scene shifts from the bar to the street with the group trying to hail a taxi to get home and then we arrive at the woman's apartment which is far more chic than her hanging out in a bar would suggest. More dancing and rivalry ensues  until the sailor wins and the young man leaves disappointed, pursued by the office worker. The sailor promptly falls asleep on the sofa while the office worker declares his interest in the young man outside. And then we see the dream, the golden city in the dawn sunlight summoning the young man back to adventure and the future and he succumbs, running towards it.

I really loved this ballet, so much wrapped up in only 39 minutes, tales of life and love, triumph and disaster and what it means to be alive. Sarah Lamb was, again, our leading lady, along with Alexander Campbell, Bennet Gartside and Tristan Dyer. So much story-telling and energetic dance in such a short time.

The final ballet was 'Corybantic Games' by Christopher Wheeldon, and the costumes were very ancient Greek in style. This one was, again, rather abstract in style, with the dancers appearing as ancient Greek athletes, the women in see-through frocks and the lads wearing lots of straps. It had me wondering about how you jump backwards, especially synchronised, and I couldn't quite work it out. Once again, it was the sheer athleticism and artistry of the dancers that stole my attention - how do they do that?

With this ballet I had little idea of what was going on, it was more of an abstract show-off ballet, look what I can do as the dancers leap and twirl and go up on tippy toe and challenge each other to do better. These young people are astonishingly fit and seemed to move as one even when they quite clearly weren't. I was most impressed.

This was a very enjoyable evening seeing new ballets as well as one that's been on before. You never really know what you're going to see in these Royal Ballet triple bills but there's always one that I love. This time it was 'The Age of Anxiety' which I'm very pleased to have seen.

'The Sleeping Beauty' at the Royal Opera House

Last week we went to see 'The Sleeping Beauty' performed by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. This is a special ballet and it's quite historic for the Royal Ballet since it was the first ballet they performed back in 1946 at the Royal Opera House. I'd never seen this production before and was really looking forward to it in the grand setting of the Royal Opera House.  It doesn't have the emotional intensity of some of the other ballets in the Royal Ballet's catalogue, but it's quite rightly an audience favourite and now it's one of my favourites.

Princess Aurora, our heroine, was supposed to be danced by Lauren Cuthbertson but, before the ballet started, the Director of the Royal Ballet came on stage to tell us that Lauren was ill and her role would be danced by Yasmine Naghdi. I trust the Royal Ballet to give us a good show so I wasn't worried about that in the slightest. I wonder how Yasmine felt about it, sitting back stage, waiting to go on that famous stage and wondering where it might lead?

We all know the story of this classic fairytale. The wicked fairy curses the baby princess to prick her finger on a needle and die but the good fairy saves her by amending the curse to make her sleep rather than die. A hundred years pass and the handsome prince is hunting in the forest, finds the sleeping princess and awakens her with a kiss. They fall in love, marry and live happy ever after. There you are you see, you know the story. But how you get from start to finish is fraught with joy and fear and some great dance sequences and our princess seemed to spend most of her time high on tippy toe (a technical term).

From the start this is what, I suppose, we all think a ballet is: lads in tights and lasses in tutus, a cast of thousands (not quite). fantastical sets and gorgeous costumes, and amazing music swirling up to the rounded ceiling which is like the inside of a Faberge egg. The spectacle and the glory of it all is quite magical. And they they start to dance and the story unfolds. I love it when the stage is packed with dancers moving as one and then the principals join them for their show-off dances and I sit there wondering how on earth a human body can do *that* and how they don't hurt themselves doing *this* and how they can possibly do *that*. But they do. Again and again.

Some moments I thought were lovely were the dance of the fairy godmothers bringing their gifts to the baby Aurora, everything with nasty Carabosse in (she can disappear in a puff of smoke you know), Aurora's dance with her four suitor princes and the dance of Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund before their wedding. It was all terribly lovely and then we have the wedding itself with Puss-in-Boots, Red Riding Hood and other fairytale creations attending and doing their dance.  One of the more energetic dances was by Princess Florine and the Bluebird, with the Bluebird leaping into the air and soaring across the stage in a great bound.

While there is no incredible story-telling or shock twists and turns, this is very much a feel-good production and quite a historic one. I liked Tierney Heap as the Lilac Fairy appearing throughout the production to make things right again and Hayley Forskitt, as her arch nemesis, the evil Carabosse. James Hay was also pretty spectacular as the jumpy-all-over-the-shop Bluebird with his amazing solos. And full praise to Yasmine Naghdi as Aurora and Matthew Ball as Florimund who only first danced these roles a few days before. They worked well together and it's nice to see the more junior members of the Royal Ballet being given their big break.  I'll watch out for both of them in future.

Thanks for the magic, Royal Ballet.

'Anastasia' at The Royal Opera House

On Monday evening we went to The Royal Opera House to see the latest Royal Ballet production, Kenneth MacMillan's 'Anastasia'. Something I like about the programmes and cast lists at the Royal Opera House is that they tell you how many performances there have been of a particular show so I can tell you that was the 69th performance at the Royal Opera House of this ballet since it was first created. So there you go.

'Anastasia' is about the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Anna, the woman who emerged after the First World War to claim that she was the daughter who had somehow survived the war and revolution. MacMillan choreographed the ballet in 1971 before DNA tests proved there was no link between Anna and the Romanov family so the ballet presumes that Anna might actually be Grand Duchess Anastasia. And what a powerful ballet it is.

It was a bit of a surprise to enter the Amphitheatre and not see the plush red curtains covering the stage - instead there was a giant, grainy, black and white photo of the Romanov family with Rasputin photoshopped into it on one side - Tsar, Tsarina, four daughters and one son. I'd forgotten about the mad monk who stalks menacingly through portions of the ballet like a malevolent spirit (and who Anastasia is obviously wary of). It was quite poignant to see this photo of the Romanovs below the royal crest of the Royal Opera House with all the royal houses of Europe having links in some way. The original photo is included in the programme without Rasputin photoshopped in (he's at the top right in this photo).

The first act is a tale of youthful joy, a family outing on a steamer with attentive crew and limitless possibilities. The daughters all dance and tease the officers and Anastasia is the centre of attention. She and her sisters dance with the handsome, young officers while other officers leap from the side of the ship to have a swim in the sea. Happy, care-free times, times to look back on and smile. And then the Tsar receives the message that war has been declared on Germany. Yes, it's 1914 and dark times are coming.

The second act takes place in 1917 and is more stately, more sedate, lacking the joy of the pre-war years. Russia has been at war for three years and the world has changed. We see Anastasia'a coming out ball at which the Tsar has invited his favourite ballerina and her partner to perform and we get a great entertainment section. This act is interrupted by a great sequence at the front of the stage of the revolutionaries preparing for insurrection and then we see them invading the palace and setting it alight (with flames on the tops of some walls, looking very realistic).

The third act is Anna - or Anastasia? - in a mental institution reliving memories of her family, of the revolution, of Rasputin. Are they memories or are they made up from what she's been told or read? Other than a hospital bed the stage was empty with Anna dancing her madness with various memories appearing now and then to dance with her or torment her. This was very absorbing to watch, very intense and driven, and was the longest act with the dancer playing Anna being on stage the entire time. It doesn't try to resolve the conundrum of whether Anna is Anastasia but it offers glimpses and possibilities.

Our Anastasia was Lauren Cuthbertson and her mother, Tsarina Alexandra was the wonderful Itziar Mendizabal who I've seen before in 'Giselle' and 'The Winter's Tale' - her performance confirms her as the queen of grace and precision in my eyes. Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae were the excellent dancers in the second act. Lauren Cuthbertson was also Anna in the painful third act, the woman who may or may not be the real Anastasia. She was on stage for the entire time with so much stamina and energy that she deserved all the flowers she got when it was time for the bows.

This is an excellent production and deserves to be seen by everyone who can make it. Have an imagination, have a soul and you can't fail to like it and be drawn in by it. I was.