Ballet Central has always had a reputation for producing extremely versatile dancers and this year’s cohort proves the point. In an occasionally uneven programme the graduating students were given ample opportunity to demonstrate where their strengths lie. And as in many previous years, it was mainly individual personalities that shone through and made the biggest impression.
The programme in the Linbury Theatre comprised four works, three of which were new along with an extraordinary revival of Sir Frederick Ashton’s 1932 piece Foyer de danse which has not been seen in its entirety for over 90 years. It has been lovingly brought back to life by former ballet mistress of The Royal Ballet, Ursula Hageli.
The evening opened with Kristen McNally’s Feast to music by Philip Feeney, performing live with Hetty Snell and Sara Trickey. Having live musicians always brings a great deal to the overall atmosphere and given the abstract nature of the piece, contributed greatly to the outcome. McNally is an experienced choreographer and is able to temper her creative eye to the dancers she is working with. Cleanly structured, with a folksy feel to the steps, the shapes the dancers made, particularly with their arms and heads reminded me of the figures painted around ancient Greek or Egyptian pottery.
Especially good were Flo Sudborough and Theo Shirt in a brief duet and while the rest of the cast were clearly committed, the work is described as vibrant – about the joys of togetherness – yet there were some very serious expressions on stage. Perhaps they can find an injection of joy for the rest of the tour.
Dickson Mbi is becoming an ever more popular choice as a choreographer bringing something different to the stage. He composes his own music and his experience as a hip-hop artist means that he infuses his creations with a voice that presents challenges to his dancers that are completely left of classical ballet training. In Rise, Ballet Central embraced this earthy, almost tribal approach and most noticeably created a very positive vibe on stage that echoed the title. The work built to a fitting crescendo as Florence May Jones was lifted above the ensemble and the stage was showered with leaves in autumnal colours.
Mbi claims that he wanted create something that helped them rise up to this new and exciting chapter of their lives and that is exactly what came across. The dancers seemed full of hope.
It was a privilege to see Ashton’s Foyer de danse. The idea to revive it came to Hageli many years ago when she discovered some very old amateur film footage in black and white, with no sound, from 1932. In 2011 she began work on an Insight Evening at the Royal Opera House in conjunction with the Royal Academy’s Degas exhibition.
From there Hageli sourced a score and the culmination of all her hard work resulted in a charming, very Ashtonian, short work set in a ballet studio with a star ballerina and a group of students, a ballet master and a character that is described as a ‘lascivious patron’. The choreography itself was very speedy, very musical and, as one would expect, full of complicated phrases of intricate footwork. The cast were admirably invested in their roles but the fiendishly fast sections eluded some. More use of the metatarsals would have been helpful in keeping the feet fully stretched, especially where stamina was an issue.
It provided Archie Anderson as Le Maître de ballet and Tara Darlami as L’Etoile with great opportunities to dance and to display some already accomplished stagecraft. Darlami has a very engaging personality and threw herself into the role, playing with her character with wit and vivacity. One to watch.
The closing piece was great fun. Keeping Up with the Apocalypse by Thick & Tight (aka Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry) set to music from Nixon In China by John Adams, was laugh-out-loud from the off. Set many years in the future in a desolate post-apocalyptic landscape where only the Kardashians remain on the planet (yes, you read that correctly!), they remain desperate for attention from an audience that no longer exists. Let’s say that the dancers grasped the tongue-in-cheek vs serious content related to climate change, with obvious relish. It was a welcome, theatrical finish to the evening, fast-paced and well danced.
If the classical ballet vocabulary is not suited to all of the dancers, a programme like this one, does at least show that diversity and adaptability are prerequisites in the dance world today.
