The logistical and fiscal challenges of running a capsule ballet company are well documented but there are also silver linings; one such being the capability for swift opportunism. And, this was very much the case in Ballet Cymru’s partnership with choreographer Tim Podesta, and his muse, former Royal Ballet principal Mara Galeazzi. The Welsh company – not, I discovered, officially the national ballet of Wales; but certainly the only ballet company in the principality – has grabbed the opportunity for a brief run of Podesta’s latest work, with Galeazzi as the star (three performances only; two in the company’s home, in Newport, plus this lone foray into London).
Shadow Aspect is a dark tale, deriving inspiration from Jungian psychology, and in particular Carl Jung’s philosophy that the shadow represents a personality’s unconscious aspect, often the dark side of human nature, which is not overtly revealed by the consious ego. “Everyone carries a shadow”, wrote Jung, “and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacked and denser it is”. This statement essentially forms the basis for Podesta’s choreographic inquiry.
Galeazzi – now in partnership with Podesta, through their company, M&T in Motion – is the work’s central figure, enjoying several solos, and while she frequently shares the stage with the other eight dancers, it is always as a remote and isolated observer, as if she inhabits a different dimension. With a stunning new, short hairstyle, Galeazzi takes a deep dive into the dark side, moving sinuously, her gestures captured in silhouettes that exaggerated the sinister shapes of hooked arms or claws. Gesture plays a key part in Podesta’s choreographic style, which is admirably suited to Galeazzi’s charismatic delivery. In one sequence the dancers slap themselves rhythmically as an integral part of the choreography.
But, this is no one-woman show and the dancers of the Ballet Cymru ensemble (five men and three women) are slick and strong, working effectively as a group organism and in the many diverse disaggregations into mixed duets and interactive groups. It is an international collective with two dancers sharing Podesta’s Australian nationality, three from southern Europe (Catalunya, Italy and Portugal), three from England and one from the host nation (Gwenllian Davies from Cardiff).