Northern Ballet brought a serene, neoclassical programme to the Linbury Theatre at London’s Royal Opera House, titled Generations: Three Short Ballets. Artistic Director Federico Bonelli indicated in the programme that this was entirely his choice of ballets and that it was a reflection of his vision for the company’s future.
Possibly the most intriguing of the three was Intimate Pages, a first European commission for Tiler Peck, New York City Ballet’s brilliant ballerina. It’s a welcome diversion when a top dancer begins to reveal a different aspect of themselves through choreography. However, it was another excellent dancer, Benjamin Ella, whose Joie de Vivre opened the evening. A Soloist with The Royal Ballet, he has shown an interest in choreography for a long time and, unsurprisingly, this work is beautifully crafted with an obvious command of intricate and aesthetic choreographic vocabulary.
Made for three couples and set to a selection of pieces by Sibelius, he does a wonderful job of finding and expressing the exuberance in the music, which was played live by Ewan Gilford on the piano and Geoffrey Allan on the violin (reasons to be cheerful!). The three couples danced with absolute commitment: Joseph Taylor and Dominique Larose, supremely elegant at the start; Sarah Chun and Harris Beattie, charmingly playful as the second couple and Saeka Shirai and Jun Ishii, bursting with vitality within their partnership. It was composed of a series of duets, solos and pas de trois which were very pleasingly put together, with lovely touches. I especially liked the lifts which signalled an exit from the stage – with an element of surprise each time. If it was clear that Ella had drawn his inspiration from Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, so be it – why not learn from the great masters?
In between the two new works was Hans van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier. It’s hard to believe that this was created in 1973. It is extremely contemporary both in the way it looks and in its unusual vocabulary. Superbly executed by Taylor and Larose, Jonathan Hanks and Amber Lewis, and Alessandra Bramante and Jackson Dwyer, this is exceedingly challenging in terms of partnering. The choreography demands clean lines, at atypical angles, dead lifts and plenty of stamina. Each of those dancers gave powerful performances. Pianist Colin Scott played Beethoven’s Piano Sonata no. 29 “Hammerklavier” with suitable gravity.
Peck’s Intimate Pages lifted the spirits after the undoubted seriousness of its predecessor. Set to three movements from Janáček’s String Quartet no. 2 “Intimate Letters”, Beattie was the central character in this utterly delightful piece. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Peck – her own dancing is phenomenally light, quick, precise and vivacious. That she has imposed her beautiful qualities on her cast is a foregone conclusion. And yet, it surpassed expectations. Beattie appears to be a young man in a quandary. He is exceptionally fleet of foot and has such warmth of personality that is difficult not to fall for his appealing presence. Chun is again his main interest and the two of them are in constant physical conversations.
There are two other protagonists who distract Beattie, in the form of Aerys Merrill and Heather Lehan. They try desperately to procure his affections, Merrill with her ebullience, Lehan with her sincerity and devotion. He’s clearly overwhelmed by everything and circumnavigates the stage in an emotional whirlwind. The whole experience is inclusive and entertaining. I remember Beattie from his graduation performance at Central School of Ballet. He is one of those dancers who engages you from the outset. Merrill is staggeringly talented. She is not only a great technician but her radiance and strong stage presence look set to take her far.
Northern Ballet has a plethora of interesting and talented dancers. Whilst this programme was not mind-blowing or particularly diverse – it was enjoyable and polished from start to finish. In a company that is famous for its narrative ballets, the dancers are still able to inject their own brand of storytelling into abstract ballets, something that needs to be cherished.
