[Review] The Royal Ballet’s Festival of New Choreography – New Works

New choreography is the lifeblood of every dance company, so it was good news that, as part of the Royal Opera House’s Festival of New Choreography, The Royal Ballet was presenting an evening of four new works on the Covent Garden main stage. More good news was the fact that the choreographers chosen for the programme – two women, two men – all came from a ballet background, as opposed to the contemporary dance world, demonstrating that The Royal Ballet is investing in the future of classical ballet. There’s always risk involved when companies commission new ballets, of course, but overall, I felt this venture was very promising, with only one dud to spoil things.

Let’s begin with that dud, which came at the end of the evening. American-born Jessica Lang is the most established of the four choreographers chosen for the programme, and her work is highly professional. Twinkle, however – danced to a bizarre coupling of Brahms’ Wiegenlied Opus 49 No 4 (Brahms’ “Lullaby”) and Mozart’s Twelve Variations on Ah vous diraj-je, Maman (or “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” as the tune is also known) – is a “Piano” ballet, very much in the manner of Jerome Robbins, that could have been created more than 50 years ago – it feels as fresh as a worn-out pair of old slippers. All cutesy whimsy and witless shallow virtuosity, I was astonished by Twinkle‘s poverty of invention, even more so when considering Lang has made much more interesting work for other companies. Fumi Kaneko, William Bracewell and Daichi Ikarashi danced it for more than it was worth, and Kate Shipway was the marvellous solo pianist.

British-born Gemma Bond started her career as a dancer with The Royal Ballet but left to perform with American Ballet Theatre where she also began to choreograph. She has now made a number of works for companies in the USA, including The Washington Ballet and Sarasota Ballet. For Boundless, her first creation for The Royal Ballet, danced to truculent music by Joey Roukens (Shipway, joined by Robert Clark, were the piano soloists), the choreography is quick paced, pugnacious, almost combative in feel. Led by Yasmine Naghdi and Ryoichi Hirano, whose duets are terse rather than tender, Bond handles her ensemble extremely well, the busy opening section of jumps and turns embellished with curious hands-on-shoulders and churning arm movements. Bond makes much use of Hirano’s strength as a partner, holding Naghdi upside down or over his shoulders, and she deploys Naghdi’s rippling pas de bourrées to magical effect. An abstract work, punchy, sharp and staccato, Boundless is enhanced by Charlotte MacMillan’s gradated deep-blue costumes.

The least experienced choreographer on the programme was Dutch-born Joshua Junker, a dancer with The Royal Ballet, who contributed Never Known to music by Nils Frahm and Vikingur Ólafsson. Darkly lit, it is essentially an ensemble work, the dancers moving in ripples, curving and bending, like a Mexican wave. Individuals break out to dance, and Madison Bailey makes an astonishing entrance, held high over the head of Lukas B Braensrød, and then positioned head-first, upside down at an angle. The final section is a duet for Liam Boswell and Francisco Serrano, the two supporting and curling themselves around each other – there is no sense of romance between the men, but simple, mutual support. Junker has yet to find a distinctive choreographic voice all his own, but Never Known hints at much promise for the future.

Finally, with a burst of brilliant colour, Ballet Black‘s South African-born dancer and choreographer Mthuthuzeli November brings a flavour of Africa to the stage in For What It’s Worth, danced to music by himself and Alex Wilson that is orchestrated by George Morton. African rhythms pervade the score, as well as song from Sidiki Dembele, and Mayara Magri appears as a kind of symbol of “Mother Africa”, her head ringed by a hat that looks like the halo of a Christian saint. Magri circles her face with her hands, moving foot to foot, then spreads her arms out wide as if she were embracing the whole world. With kaleidoscope arms, hand claps and shifting body patterns from the dancers, November creates undulating, fluid choreography that floods the stage with warmth, happiness and joy. What a wonderful, vivid and memorable way to make your Royal Ballet choreographic debut.

Jonathan Gray Guest Author

Jonathan Gray was editor of Dancing Times from 2008 to 2022.

He studied at The Royal Ballet School, Leicester Polytechnic, and Wimbledon School of Art where he graduated with a BA Hons in Theatre Design. He was on the Curatorial Staff of the Theatre Museum, London, from 1989 to 2005, assisting on a number of dance-related exhibitions, and helping with the recreation of original designs for a number of The Royal Ballet’s productions including Danses concertantes, Daphnis and Chloë, and The Sleeping Beauty.

Jonathan Gray has also contributed to the Financial Times and The Guardian, written programme articles for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, and is co-author of the book Unleashing Britain: Theatre gets real 1955-64, published in 2005. He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.