Hauntingly beautiful: Crystal Pite's Light of Passage at the ROH

Light of Passage

Kristen McNally in Light of Passage

Light of Passage

By Graham Watts, 19 October 2022

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“as the rite of passage reaches its climax, Pite goes for broke with her ensemble movement”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 18 October 2022

Light of Passage (Crystal Pite)

The Royal Ballet

Zoi Tsokanou, Conductor

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Marcelino Sambé, Dancer

Kristen McNally, Dancer

Francesca Chiejina, Soprano

English National Ballet’s Body and Soul: a very mixed bag

Deborah Weiss, 19th March

English National Ballet presents a double bill of contrasts at Sadler’s Wells with startlingly mixed results, not all positive.

***11

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Mark Vicente, 10th December

A triumphant evening showcasing the breadth and depth of NDT’s artistic intellect, and their dazzling versatility across various choreographic landscapes.

*****

NDT1 in Figures in Extinction: cerebral and physical excellence

Deborah Weiss, 5th November

An extraordinary evening of dance theatre of the highest quality, Figures in Extinction for Nederlands Dans Theater 1 is a thought provoking experience worth repeating.

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Kathy Elgin, 22nd August

An evening focused on the separation of humanity from the natural world and the destruction of that world, either because of ignorance, greed or just not caring.

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Shadows and light: Ballet BC

Zoë Anderson, 20th May

Ballet BC’s double bill puts Crystal Pite’s marvellous, shadowy Frontier in conversation with the folk-tinged comedy of Johan Inger’s Passing.

****1

The Royal Ballet’s Light of Passage: mesmerisingly beautiful

Amanda Jennings, 20th February

Overall, Light of Passage is one of those glorious pieces where music, choreography and design meld together to make theatrical magic.

*****

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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.

Hauntingly beautiful: Crystal Pite's Light of Passage at The Royal Ballet