The brainchild of former Scottish Ballet soloist, Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, Ballet Nights is an emerging brand that sets itself apart from the ubiquity of ballet galas through a new concept of high-end cabaret ballet. It has the unique selling points of an intriguing repertoire that will not be found on the gala circuit, performed by an exciting array of elite cross-sectoral dance talent. Changing Perceptions was the second in a season of three programmes (the next – A Grand Finale – will be presented on 24/25 November) and featured several of my must-see performers from both contemporary dance and ballet.
The Lanterns Studio Theatre – just a few minutes’ walk from Canary Wharf – is a fascinating venue for dance. The 17m² stage is as large as in many opera houses but an audience size in the low hundreds means that the performance is up close and personal for everyone. The otherwise bare stage features a £120,000 Concert Piano, previously used by Elton John and donated to the theatre by Yamaha, sited against the upstage wall, which facilitated stunning virtuoso performances by the house musical director, Viktor Erik Emanuel. As a prelude to the dance, he opened the first act with Chopin’s intensely moving Fourth Ballade and the second through the oceanic gracefulness of Debussy’s L’Isle Joyeuse.
The dance programme opened with Musa Motha’s performance of his own Depth of Healing, a floor-based performance that showcased Motha’s unique talent as an amazing dancer with one leg. Motha performed his solo without a supporting crutch, utilising his hyper flexibility to sinuously fold and roll his body into extraordinary shapes in a dance style that is exclusively his own.
If this opening work was superb another highlight was the finale. We see David Dawson’s work so infrequently in the UK that it is wonderful to see two of his works in quick succession. Following last month’s Four Last Songs by English National Ballet here was the UK premiere of Metamorphosis 1 (a work made during the pandemic as a film for Dutch National Ballet). Dawson’s challenging movement was danced with captivating emotion and fluidity by ENB’s Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw (dancers who also excelled in Four Last Songs). Philip Glass’s six-minute piano solo is a catnip gift to choreographers and my only quibble is that it would have had even stronger impact if played live by Emanuel on that wonderful piano.
Emanuel did play Nobuo Uematsu’s music live for Jordan James Bridge’s new solo, Heisei 9, danced by Constance Devernay-Laurence in a stunning catsuit designed by Stevie Stewart. Bridge made excellent use of the wide space with flowing movement that mapped out the floor in geometric lines, expertly surveyed by Devernay-Laurence’s silky movement.
As a last-minute replacement for the scheduled performance by Steven McRae (sadly lost to injury), Devernay-Laurence and The Royal Ballet’s Ryoichi Hirano closed the first act in a showstopping delivery of the Stoptime Rag and Bethena Rag Waltz from Kenneth MacMillan’s Elite Syncopations. Although both dancers are experienced in these roles, they had not previously danced together and – clad in Ian Spurling’s skin-tight cartoonish costumes – they were outstanding in this jazz club flirtation: she, coquettish and slinky; he, the slick, confident dance floor lothario.
James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight danced an excerpt of their duet In the Absence, an abstract piece that spoke to me of many emotions - reflection, longing, struggle, hope – and was performed with elegance and strong emotion by these outstanding dancers. Another “find” was Yasser D’Oquendo, formerly of Acosta Danza, who has stayed in Europe to pursue a freelance career. He danced his own fluid solo entitled Utopia (The Way is Inside), a celebration of fatherhood dedicated to his daughter back in Cuba. I’m also an admirer of Andrew McNicol’s choreography and an extract from his 2021 work Of Silence - to music by Pēteris Vasks - was performed by James Stephens and Winnie Dias. It showcased McNicol’s linear flow of elegant, neoclassical choreography, often punctuated by fascinating moments of surprise.
As well as featuring new commissions, Ballet Nights also revisits key works of dance history in collaboration with award-winning Yorke Dance Project. Changing Perceptions included a movement from Meta 4, a 1994 quartet, created collaboratively by Californian choreographer, Bella Lewitsky and composer, Robert Xavier Rodrigues. The well-crafted, sculptural precision of Lewitsky’s movement was strongly danced by Luke Ahmet, Pierre Tappon, Abigail Attard Montalto and Jenny Hayes.
Although the quantity of dance works was small – just four in each act – the quality, diversity and innovation were weighty with most works being either world or UK premieres. The evening was charmingly compered by Jamiel Devernay-Laurence, dapperly dressed in a dinner suit, and giving the audience insider observations about each piece. And that’s the final USP of Ballet Nights, which breaks the usual divide between audience and performer with Devernay-Laurence welcoming audience members on arrival and making everyone feel part of the show.
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