International Draft Works has become an annual fixture at the Royal Opera House, offering budding choreographers from The Royal Ballet and around the world a platform to showcase their individual voices. It’s a perfect opportunity to forge new connections and find out what is going on in other companies.
Inevitably, it’s a mixed bag and it’s also necessary to remind oneself that these are short pieces with little time to develop or explore themes in any great depth. The evening got off to a good start with Burden by Lars de Vos from Dutch National Ballet. A duet for two men, its steady start with waving arm movements was deceptively unassuming as they built quickly towards some daring hip-hop and ballet passages, very well danced by Herrold Anakotta and Soshi Suzuki.
Northern Ballet brought George Liang’s Sky Above, Voices Within – another duet for two men. It was well crafted and touching as Kevin Poeung danced with Ruben Reuter in a caring, nurturing way. Choreographically it felt a little tame but nevertheless, pleasing enough.
Emanuele Babici from Stuttgart Ballet created Heartquake for two women and a man. It did what it said on the tin, exploring friendships which evolve, and the dancers were beautiful but it felt very saccharin, very melodramatic. At one point, while admiring the classicism, the ease with which Serhii Zharikov lifted Yana Peneva or Abigail Willson-Heisel and enjoying the way the three of them neatly wove shapes and patterns together, I was distracted by the extreme, gushing happiness followed by exaggerated misery. It lacked authenticity.
The first half concluded with Ashley Dean’s In Absence for The Royal Ballet. She has shown before that she is adept at presenting polished choreography. The theme, in two parts, was love, loss and mercy. The stage was so dark that it took me some time to work out that Dean was dancing with Benjamin Ella. Again, it was well thought out, lovely shapes and smooth transitions. In the second part, Harry Churches, Liam Boswell, Francisco Serrano and Madison Bailey moved in earnest sequences of fluid steps, but ultimately the message was blurred.
The second half was much more diverse choreographically and thematically. Opening with Joburg Ballet’s Mpho by Tumelo Lekana, the title, meaning ‘gift’, is a dance informed by Tswana culture. With a live musician on stage (Peter Mpho Mothiba), the piece was a fusion between African dance and culture, and classical ballet. With the spoken word and the sounds and rhythms of African music, it was lively and warm, depicting the journey of a young woman through to maturity. Daria D’Orazio, Savannah Jacobson and Latoya Mokoena were thoroughly engaging.
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Kit Holder provided one of the highlights of the evening with Capriccio. With the added bonus of two dancers from Acosta Danza on terrific form (Alexander Arias and Paul Brando), the opening scene saw both dancers’ heads covered in cloth and intertwined. To anyone familiar with the surrealist artist René Magritte, it was instantly recognisable as the depiction of his series of paintings, The Lovers. Holder's piece, reflecting the resolution of conflict, was supremely athletic and good enough to warrant a second viewing.
Cina Espejord’s Pages for Norwegian National Ballet also piqued my interest. In between the movements of Anton Arensky’s Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, were the recorded rustlings of pages being turned, representing the various episodes within a relationship. I liked the contrasts between the melancholic adagio sections and the passages of very crisp allegro, all of which were danced exceedingly well by Nora Augustinius and Josh Nagaoka. Espejord is definitely one to watch.
The evening closed with Marcelino Sambé's Almost Human, the story of Lilith and Adam, before the creation of Eve. The combination of a stellar cast and some intriguing, imaginative choreography made this piece captivating. It was also substantially longer. The clever addition of an ever-present apple, the object of temptation, was expertly woven into every moment of contact. Viola Pantuso as Lilith and Lukas B Brændsrød as Adam created a sensuous, genuinely chemistry-driven partnership. There were some extraordinary lifts (he has to be one of the best partners of his generation) but the way they coiled around each other’s limbs and torso, had a magnetic quality. Rebecca Myles Stewart as Eve managed to replicate this slithery style of movement once Lilith had been banished.
These may not be works of outstanding merit just yet, but there is plenty of hope and variety from all quarters of the globe.
