‘Fast Forward’, Hamburg Ballet’s latest mixed programme, offers works spanning the last 90 years. It begins with one of George Balanchine’s most recognisable creations, Serenade, first seen in 1935, and then “fast forwards” to three recent offerings, concluding with a dynamic world premiere from emerging choreographer Xie Xin, The Moon in the Ocean. It’s a good concept but I would have liked some stronger additions in what is a rather uninspiring mid-section.
Hamburg has not historically been known for Balanchine, and there was a palpable tension amongst the corps de ballet in what was a tentative showing on opening night. Nonetheless the musical choreography and luscious Tchaikovsky score Serenade for Strings make it hard not to be seduced by its gentle beauty. Although plotless, there is a soft, playful quality, the swirling skirts in pastel blue and quirky interplay between the corps; one dancer arrives late, another takes a fall amongst the constantly switching patterns and formations.
There was a promising start, with good synchronicity and poise from the group, picture perfect poses, arms in fifth well placed. A later section with a group of five all simultaneously falling into the splits was well controlled but as the score grew more lively, there was some raggedness in the ranks and the heavy clack of the pointe shoes felt shuffling rather than elegant.
The Soloists came out well, however. Futaba Ishizaki was light and bright with an effortless jump that didn’t fade. Anna Laudere and Ida Praetorius were statuesque with hair loose in the final section that saw one of them supported and turned en pointe like a figure in a jewellery box. No doubt the company will warm up as the run continues but a few more hours in the rehearsal room are required for some true escapism.
Marcos Morau's Totentanz (Dance of Death) received the most enthusiastic reception of the evening but left me cold. A piece for three performers, it’s more theatre than dance, with a bare stage save for a sterile operating table and strip light above. There were some dense programme notes which explained a convoluted objective relating to medieval traditions but none of this was apparent to me in the dingy lighting and short, sharp isolated pulses of choreography. Nevertheless, Daniele Bonelli, Louis Musin and Charlotte Larzelere seemed to relish the drama of the work and performed with attack and conviction.
Angelin Preljocaj’s Annonciation was better, a duet for two women first premiering in 1995 depicting the Annunciation of Mary. Charlotte Kragh and Selina Appenzeller, the latter of whom is only an Apprentice with the company, played the roles of the Angel and Mary respectively, both needing to command the audience's attention by themselves, using stillness and choreographic motifs to tell the story. It was neat and well executed with moments of rampant physicality. Kragh was particularly explosive, contrasting with Appenzeller’s serene calmness. Their engaging dynamic and the jarring musical combination of Vivaldi’s Magnificat with something modern and electronic kept things interesting too, but I’m not sure it was the right choice to showcase the last 90 years of dance.
Finally, we closed as we began, with something more abstract but bringing us to the present day. The Moon in the Ocean is a handsomely designed piece from Xie Xin, a young choreographer who has already had her work programmed at Paris Opera. Unlike Serenade, here the men are front and centre, 16 of them in total in a piece that loosely seeks to channel the rhythms of the ocean through Xin’s signature fluid movement language.
Most apparent is the beauty of it all: the shiny black stage glistens; Gao Jie’s lighting gives added shine to the evocative green-blue costumes (Lin Kun) as the men respond softly to the crash of waves, coming together, forearms connected before splitting apart. It has an immersive, hypnotic quality, but further meaning is added upon meeting the Moon of the Sky and the Moon of the Ocean. Xue Lin and Ana Torrequebrada bourréed gently in the background before finally becoming the main focus. Lin and Florian Pohl danced a duet full of expansive lines and long, slow breaths, the former glittering ethereally in gold.
It’s perhaps no surprise that such a patchwork of a mixed bill came to be as Hamburg Ballet still seeks more permanent leadership. No doubt swift adjustments have been made to pre-agreed programming and the dancers coped well with this eclectic and ambitious bill, in an evening that entertained but that still felt somewhat unbalanced.
