21st-Century Choreographers celebrated by The Royal Ballet

By Graham Watts, 19 May 2021

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“a spontaneous eruption of affection for a live art that had been absent from this stage”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 18 May 2021

Within the Golden Hour (Christopher Wheeldon)

Optional Family: a divertissement (Kyle Abraham)

The Statement (Crystal Pite)

Solo Echo (Crystal Pite)

The Royal Ballet

Koen Kessels, Conductor

Jay Gower Taylor, Set Designer

Jasper Conran, Costume Designer

Peter Mumford, Lighting Designer

Ilaria Martello, Lighting Designer

Dan Scully, Lighting Designer

Crystal Pite, Costume Designer

Joke Visser, Costume Designer

Tom Visser, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Anna Rose O'Sullivan, Dancer

Vadim Muntagirov, Dancer

Francesca Hayward, Dancer

Valentino Zucchetti, Dancer

Yasmine Naghdi, Dancer

Ryoichi Hirano, Dancer

Leo Dixon, Dancer

David Yudes, Dancer

Cesar Corrales, Dancer

Natalia Osipova, Dancer

Marcelino Sambé, Dancer

Stanisław Węgrzyn, Dancer

Lukas B Brændsrød, Dancer

Harry Churches, Dancer

Isabella Gasparini, Dancer

Hannah Grennell, Dancer

Ashley Dean, Dancer

Kristen McNally, Dancer

Calvin Richardson, Dancer

Joseph Sissens, Dancer

Christopher Vanderspar, Cello

Robert Clark, Piano

NYCB: Ratmansky’s The Naked King is not satire, but good fun

Ivy Lin, 7th February

New York City Ballet presents a very entertaining quadruple bill which includes Alexei Ratmansky’s latest work, The Naked King, showing off the company’s comic talents.

****1

The Royal Ballet’s Like Water for Chocolate is sumptuous but complex

Amanda Jennings, 1st October

The Royal Ballet’s season opener, Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate, is visually tremendous, very well danced but the many principal and soloist characters are difficult to keep up with.

****1

Ballet Nights makes an impressive and unforgettable Scottish debut

Kathy Elgin, 4th July

Ballet Nights is more than an evening of party pieces: it showcases emerging talent alongside older favourites and, in the case of this first Scottish outing, has an eye to local tradition.

****1

ABT in Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale: CliffsNotes Shakespeare

Ivy Lin, 2nd July

Christopher Wheeldon’s The Winter’s Tale is a sumptuous looking production but on this occasion, it didn’t come to life emotionally.

***11

Wheeldon’s Alice: The Royal Ballet shines in a vehicle of excellence

Amanda Jennings, 13th June

Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland shows off The Royal Ballet's roster of supreme dance actors in every version of technical wizardry and comic incarnation.

****1

Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland dazzles again in Tokyo

Naomi Mori, 12th June

Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland returned to the National Ballet of Japan, a marvelous production that amply displays the many talents of the company.

****1

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Graham Watts

Graham Watts is a freelance dance writer and critic writing regularly for Dancing Times, Dance Europe, Danza Europa, and many more publications. He regularly writes features for Sadler’s Wells, London Coliseum and La Scala. Chairman of the Dance Section of the Critics’ Circle in the United Kingdom and of the UK National Dance Awards he has interviewed many of the greatest names in dance including Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Boris Eifman, Alexei Ratmansky, Andris Liepa, Sir Peter Wright, David Bintley and Dame Gillian Lynne. When not involved in dance Graham is a keen fencer, and has captained the British Sabre team.

The reawakening: 21st-Century Choreographers celebrated by The Royal Ballet