'Romeo and Juliet' at the Royal Opera House

Last week I went to see 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Royal Opera House, the ballet that made me fall in love with the art form and, luckily, the dancer who played Romeo in that production six years ago was dancing again. Steven McRae danced Romeo in 2015 and I was in the audience when he snapped an Achilles tendon in 2019 so I had to be there to see his triumphant return to the stage last week, once again dancing Romeo, with Sarah Lamb as Juliet. What a privilege to see this joyous ballet with such great and graceful dancers as my re-introduction to the main stage of the Royal Opera House. The Royal Ballet dance Kenneth MacMillan's version of this eternal story - I've also seen John Cranko's version in Boston and, more recently, Matthew Bourne's re-imagining of the tale, but I prefer the Royal Ballet. Prokofiev was having a good month when he wrote the score for this ballet. 

We all know the story behind the work, the rivalry between the two houses of Capulet and Montague in Verona, how Romeo falls for Juliet and pursues her to marry secretly while she is supposed to marry another nobleman. She feigns suicide to avoid the marriage but Romeo believes she is dead so commits suicide himself and when she finds him dead she follows him into death. Whenever we get to the marriage scene I can't help but wish they don't marry since marriage signs their death warrants, but they always do. Maybe one day the friar will refuse to marry them...

Needless to say, I loved it. It was great to see the excitement of the sword-fencing scenes again, see the Happy Strumpets strut their stuff and see Romeo and his mates enjoying themselves before tragedy strikes. There were a few tense moments when Steven McRae took off to fly across the stage but he was on top form and seemed to revel in performing again. It's what he does, after all. He received huge cheers when he strode on stage at the start of the performance and an even louder ovation at the end, with Sarah Lamb pushing him forward for bows at the end and to accept the cheers and love from the audience. The bows at the end are usually led by the ballerina but that night it was all for Steven, and rightly so. 

And I still love that ballet.

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.

'Les Patineurs'/'Winter Dreams'/'The Concert' at the Royal Opera House

A lovely pre-Christmas treat was to see a triple bill by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House: a delightful and fun 'Les Patineurs', the serious 'Winter Dreams', and the cheeky and funny 'The Concert'. I wonder who gets to decide on which ballets to include in triple bills? I like them because you get to see different ballets and styles of dancing and you might see something you'd never knowingly buy a ticket to see. This particular triple bill was definitely worth seeing.

'Les Patineurs' is about ice-skaters and is set on an iced over pond in the woods with skaters appearing and disappearing among the trees. There's no particular story to it, just loads of dancing and occasionally falling on their bums (which happens when skating). There was some lovely dancing, sometimes in groups and other times duets or solos, with lots to enjoy. There was a lot of energy and fun to see, with the dancers feigning slipping and falling as you would on ice. I loved the consistency of the dancers and their skating movements which they kept going throughout, even when they came forward for bows after particularly fancy movements.

The second ballet was longer and far more serious since 'Winter Dreams' is based on Chekov's 'Three Sisters'. It looked far more technical and precise than the first ballet, slower and more intricate as the dancers held poses and slow transitions. For me, this was more about appreciating the performance rather than loving it and getting carried away with it. Lucky for me it featured two of my favourite dancers in the effortlessly graceful Itziar Mendizabal and Sarah Lamb, both of whom are always worth seeing.

The third ballet was 'The Concert' which was out and out fun! A comedy ballet (if there is such a thing) with the dancers demonstrating the comic side of the art form. The dancers are the audience at a piano recital and come on stage in ones and twos carrying their fold-out chairs to place themselves around the stage. Then one starts dancing and encourages the others out of their chairs and we're off and running with the pianist still playing (as well as the orchestra in the pit).

I particularly liked the section where the ballerinas were carried on by the male dancers as if they were shop dummies in various poses and end up lumped together in a pile in the centre of the stage from which they spring to life in perfect formation. Or do they? At least one of the dancers was always out of synch with the others - if they moved left then she moved right, until she noticed her error and moved back. Such a simple device but it was incredibly funny and had even me chuckling out loud. It struck me that this is what must happen on occasion in early rehearsals and it had that smack of authenticity to it, but is here played for laughs. Well done lasses!

It was a great triple bill that worked very well: the delightful whimsy of the ice-skaters, the change of pace and tone for the serious 'Winter Dreams' and then the sheer fun or 'The Concert'. Well done Royal Ballet, a lovely pre-Christmas treat!

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.

'Jewels' at the Royal Opera House

A couple of weeks ago we went to see the 32nd performance of 'Jewels' by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. Choreography is by George Balanchine based around the jewels of emeralds, rubies and diamonds. It was also broadcast live to cinemas a few days later.  I like the triple bills the Royal Opera House puts on, where you can see three very different - or similar - ballets in one programme. In 'Jewels', rubies for passion won hands down for me.

First up was 'Emeralds' in which the ballerinas wore green bodices and the lads didn't. Why didn't the male dancers wear green doublets? That's something that bothered me throughout the whole sequence of dances. And it shouldn't have. It was distracting. It was all very stately and pretty but wasn't very exciting. It almost felt like going through the motions - slowly. I want fire and ice, I want passion, and that's what was missing from this ballet. I suspect part of the reason was the music by Gabriel Faure which was very poised and measured and lacking any real dynamism. However, there was lots of tippy work so that was a good thing.

Next was 'Rubies', a far more dynamic ballet that never stopped or slowed down. This had music by Stravinsky so was very dramatic and encouraged dramatic and speedy dance moves. This was gorgeous and gives the show it's poster with Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb pulling some signature moves. Both were excellent in this short ballet, never silent and never still, ramping up the movement and passion as the ballet progressed. The really impressive thing is that it didn't look practiced and pristine, it looked like it was natural to them, it's just what they do. And they do it so well. It's only a 20 minutes show and, given the energy on that stage, that's probably just as well to keep the dancers from flagging. I was exhausted at the end of it.

My favourite section was when Steven runs and leaps round the stage followed by the other lads and then he nods his head as if to say 'keep up lads' and then launches into a set of twirls round and round, faster and faster as he crosses the stage and into the wings at ridiculous speed. Wow, it was exhausting to watch and I hope there was a pile of mattresses in the wings for him to collapse into. That was really impressive and effortless from a dancer at the top of his game.

The final ballet was 'Diamonds' with the dancers dressed in white with lots of sparkly stuff on them.  It was a return to the stateliness of the first ballet but with more speed and far more dancers on stage, at one point there were 34 of them (I counted). This had a lot of energy going for it and I much preferred the ensemble dances to the more delicate solo dances. There's something about a stage of dancers all doing the same thing at the same time that is very watchable.

I think this is why I really enjoyed the final section with all 32 dancers of the Royal Ballet on stage with the two Principals all doing the same moves, synchronised perfectly with the music again and again, turn and stretch, move and leg left then leg right. It was almost mesmerising. The Principals here were Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares who led their company with great style and grace.

It's a great triple bill and it's great fun to see so  many different dancers doing their different thing to different styles of dance and music but my favourite has to be 'Rubies'. Steven and Sarah made a great partnership and Steven's big show off moves at the end embody all that is exciting in ballet. Go on you other Principals of the Royal Ballet, follow that!

'Woolf Works' at The Royal Opera House

Two weeks ago we went to see the thirteenth performance of 'Woolf Works' by Wayne McGregor and the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. This is the first revival of the production that I first saw in 2015 (which was the sixth ever performance). Four days later we also went to see this production at the cinema as it was broadcast live and co-hosted by Darcy Bussell. Yes, it definitely is worth seeing a mere days later and it was a pleasant surprise to see so many close-ups on the big screen.

'Woolf Works' was the first production I saw at the Royal Opera House and my introduction to the Royal Ballet and holds a very special place for me. It also features Alessandra Ferri, who helped create the leading role with Wayne McGregor in 2015. Alessandra is one of those rare creatures, a Prima Ballerina Assoluta. And, of course, she trained with the Royal Ballet and danced with it in the 1980s. She has astonishing poise and skill and is a joy to watch.

'Woolf Works' is a series of three ballets based on three of Virginia Woolf's novels, in order, 'Mrs Dalloway', 'Orlando' and 'The Waves' and named 'I now, I then', 'Becomings' and 'Tuesday'. The programme opens with the voice of Virginia Woolf talking about the English language and words in the only recording of her voice with words projected on the screen and coalescing into her portrait as the curtain rises.

'I now, I then' opens with Alessandra Ferri standing still on the stage with three huge rectangles of wood slowly turning on the stage, sometimes in unison and sometimes at different speeds, and Clarrisa Dalloway is there amongst the sounds of London as the music starts. We see Clarissa as a middle aged woman and as a teenager with friends Peter and Sally, dancing their joys, and sometimes the older Clarrisa gets lost in her memories as she prepares for her party. We also get Septimus and Rezia, and even Evans who died in the trenches who does a dazzling solo as he spins round and round the stage at great speed, vanishing into the shadows at the back of the stage. Septimes's death is quite a shock as he falls from the window and the lights go out.

It's lovely to see the young Clarissa and Sally dance their joy, occasionally joined by the young Peter and, once, by the older Clarissa in memory. The music is perfect for this romantic and quite narrative dance and it was lovely, seeing it on the big screen, to see how they looked at each other as they danced. Sally in all her flighty blondness flitting around the stage, fearless and full of life, the love that Clarissa couldn't marry.

It really is a gorgeous ballet I want to see again.

'Becomings' is a different creature entirely but still telling the tale of Woolf and her worlds. Orlando was born male in the time of Elizabeth but wakes up one morning as female and immortal as she travels down the centuries. The book has been described as the longest love letter, from Virginia to Vita Sackville-West, and while there are some slow and tender moments in the ballet, I remember speed and movement, lasers and electronic music, shiny costumes flashing and lights darting as the maze of dancers spin around and leap and glide.

In several places the action takes place in the spotlight, with dancers leaping into the spotlight to take their turn and then leap out for others to take their place, constant movement, constant sharing of the stage and all impeccably done. And we had Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb dancing together in a world of their own.

One thing that stunned me was that at several points it seemed that everyone on stage was moving to their own dance, moving and twirling across the stage in different formations. How can they maintain such concentration that the movements of the dancers beside them don't affect their own dancing. This isn't just physically rigorous, but mentally rigorous too. This is why these are some of the best dancers in the world.

The stage had a covering of some shiny material during 'Becomings' to create a mirror image to most of the dancing and it was terribly effective - not the whole stage, simply the middle half so the reflections didn't outstay their welcome. And neither did the stabbing spotlights or the lasers that shot out around the auditorium (something we didn't see in the big screen version).

The final ballet was 'Tuesday', based on 'The Waves', with its backdrop of slow motion waves projected on the back of the stage and the constant movement of the dancers. This ballet was preceded by Gillian Anderson reading Virginia Woolf's suicide letter to her husband, Leonard, which got rapt attention in the auditorium. Once again, Alessandra took the lead role in this ballet, with Federico Bonelli and Sarah Lamb.

The constant movement, imitating waves on the seashore, keep the whole piece flowing and moving. Early on, the children from the Royal Ballet School joined their heroes on stage to play on the beach  with shrieks of laughter mixing with the seagulls as they played on the shore. And then the waves crashed again and the dancers appeared out of the shadows.

The repetition was mesmerising, almost transcendent as the dancers moved and created patterns on the stage, appearing and disappearing into the shadows at the back of the stage under the projection of the waves.  You know the tide has changed when the dancers started forming patterns based on waves as they sweep into the shore and then back again into the shadows , time and again as the tide goes out and fewer dancers grace the stage, then fewer still. And night falls.

'Tuesday' is a lovely, gentle ballet with some romantic movements and some narrative twists, that creates a marvellous experience, perfectly matched by the music and lighting on that simple and bare stage.

'Woolf Works' is a marvellous exercise in dance and marries together the music by Max Richter, the lighting and staging. It works as a whole with each element complementing the next. Most of the music is available on CD from Max Richter, 'Three Worlds' and I'm listening to it as I type.

I think 'Woolf Works' is included in the programme of ballets on the Royal Ballet's summer tour this year so see it if you possibly can. I will patiently await it's next revival and will be there to see it at the Royal Opera House. I wonder if Alessandra will take her role again in that revival? I do hope so.

'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.

'Frankenstein' at the Royal Opera House

Last week we went to see the brand new full-length ballet 'Frankenstein' by Liam Scarlett, performed by the Royal Ballet. I've never seen any of his work before so this was an introduction. Rather than use the popular version of the Frankenstein story as shown in the films, this ballet goes back to the source material of Mary Shelley's book and takes its story from there. It takes a few liberties with purist story but it can't show the whole story and that's what makes the plot work.

The ballet opens with a child finding a new home with the Frankenstein's and growing up in that house with Victor, dancing all over the place it seems. The day comes for Victor to go to university to become a doctor like his father when his mother dies giving birth to his younger brother. Before he goes he pledges to marry Elizabeth. At the university he's a serious scholar, determined to find a way to prolong, and even create, life. The professor shows his students the power of electricity to re-animate an arm but Victor takes it one step forward and, in a spectacular scene, brings a corpse back to life and the Creature is made!

Realising what he's done, Victor flees back to his family home in a deep depression without realising that his creation has followed him and is hiding in the woods around the family home. Victor and the Creature meet and Victor rejects him. That's it for the Creature, rejection by his creator is more than he could bear so he takes revenge and kills, well, almost everyone. Finally, Victor and the Creature have a dance off and Victor isn't strong enough and commits suicide. The ballet ends with the Creature walking to the back of the stage dragging his creator's body behind him as the family home burns.

I really enjoyed this production, only the fifth time the ballet has been performed at Covent Garden. The story-telling was excellent, a nice flowing narrative, the costumes and staging were good and the music seemed to be just right, helping the flow of the story without getting in the way. My only slight criticism is that the choreography wasn't always as big, bold and dynamic as it could have been, such as the final dance between Victor and the Creature. Something a bit more athletic and vigorous would have suited the moment better. In any case, I liked Tristan Dyer as Victor, Sarah Lamb as Elizabeth and Ryoichi Hirano as the Creature. It was lovely to see Itziar Mendizabal as the Frankensteins' housekeeper but she didn't get much dancing, mainly stern striding and pointing.