Review: International Draft Works 2026 – an outstanding initiative by The Royal Ballet
Graham Watts sees International Draft Works – three distinctly memorable works among a satisfying, broad spectrum of ideas and styles.
| Title | International Draft Works |
| Company | Various – The Royal Ballet |
| Venue | Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera and Ballet, London |
| Date | 16 April 2026 |
| Reviewer | Graham Watts |
With companies from as far afield as New Zealand, Japan and Canada, the “International” tag was thoroughly merited, but what about “Draft”? A draft work suggests that it is incomplete, but each of these nine brief dance pieces from around the world was definitely a finished article.
The programme was never less than fascinating with three distinctly memorable works amongst a very decent and diverse field. Considering that the nine companies included in the programme will all have developed their works in isolation, without coordination, it was a satisfying broad spectrum of ideas and styles.
The programme commenced with a quirky and amusing performance of Heather Lehan’s Staves by Northern Ballet, danced to Mozart’s Serenade in G (the title referencing musical staves) by Noah Benzie-Drayton and Archie Sherman, dressed in an eccentric mix of evening dress tails and tight black shorts! Their brief and charming duet was a playful mix of close synchronicity in classical movement and jumps, bringing an air of light entertainment to a serious classical score. It was an uplifting opener to the evening.
Amongst these prestigious and long-standing companies, Ballet D’Jèrri was a surprising newcomer. Founded in 2022, it is now established as the national ballet company of Jersey with an ensemble of eight international dancers. They showcased two duets from Flux by Katya Bourvis, a debut work for the company. It has a local, historical significance in referencing the sixteenth-century witch trials on the island. As two separate excerpts, it was unsurprising that the two duets seemed unrelated in context, but both were danced with strength and charm by Tabitha Dombroski and Stanley Young, followed by Anna Daly and Donovan Délis-McCarthy. This embryonic company did not seem out of place amongst its more illustrious peers.
Royal Danish Ballet was represented by Carling Talcott-Steenstra’s Houndstooth, featuring character artists Mads Blangstrup, Esther Lee Wilkinson and Kizzy Matiakis, in a psychological enquiry into the purpose of being, introduced by an intriguing voiceover. It was certainly different from the other fare and good to see recognition for older performers, but I found it rather unmemorable.
That was not the case for the refreshing pas de deux that came all the way from Japan. Yoshito Kinoshita’s Re:sonance was a delight and my pick of the first act. Kinoshita’s neoclassical choreography was performed with tremendous feeling, flow and chemistry by Ryosuke Morimoto and Haruka Soutome, their subdued, tight-fitting grey costumes contrasting with the luscious romantic riches of Ludovico Einaudi’s music. It was so beautifully performed that when it finished, I wanted to shout “encore” and see it all over again.
The first act closed with another moving piece, but for very different reasons. Maxime Thomas choreographed À perte de vue et au-delà (Beyond what the eye can see) as a tribute to the Guadeloupean writer, Maryse Condé, who died two years ago, having suffered a progressive disease that required her to use a wheelchair. It was danced by the choreographer, partnering Gladys Foggea in her wheelchair, and the synergy between the ambulant Thomas and the paraplegic Foggea was charismatic, fluid and powerful.
The second half opened with an amusing and wacky duet, Gush, by Alyssa Martin of the National Ballet of Canada, which truly fulfilled its stated promise of ‘a bacchanalian duet for two women and the things that make them sweat’, as an early taster for a much larger ensemble piece. So, in that sense, it was a “draft”! It was also very entertaining with excellent, energetic and comical performances by Agnes Su and Tene Ward. Su’s initial stance, knees bent to the left, body arched backwards to the right, holding a soft drinks can, while Su danced upstage, was a hilarious image! The choreography was a hi-energy mix of several dance styles, in which the pair acquitted themselves excellently and, no doubt, with the required sweat!
Denilson Almeida represented the home side, and his Words To The Wind for The Royal Ballet was a male duet for Caspar Lench and Martin Diaz, danced to a mix of Brazilian rhythms. The incongruous costuming of ragged workers’ jerkins embellished by what appeared to be packing tape showed off a sculptor’s dream of leg musculature! The pair began on chairs but quickly embarked upon a highly physical duet.
The programming was reversed for the two final works, with The Royal New Zealand Ballet going first with Sarah Foster-Sproull’s Ultra Folly; not a new piece, since it was made in 2020 (two years before Ballet D’Jèrri was formed), and one which showcased the sheer joy of dance with no other underlying purpose. It was great fun, danced energetically by Ana Gallardo Lobaina, Joshua Guillemot-Rodgerson, Kihiro Kusukami and Kirby Selchow, and featured the only use of pointe shoes in the programme, which perhaps indicates an international direction of travel in ballet’s future.
I think that the very best was saved for last since I was very moved by Douwe Dekkers’ un:discovered for Norwegian National Ballet, which was an emotional pas de trois for Silas Henriksen, Simon McNally and Nell Ramstad-Pedersen that I took to show the fragility of relationships: seemingly permanent couples suffering tension and becoming fractured, as people move on through a continual process of change. It was breathtakingly beautiful and (as with the other works in the programme) superbly lit by Joshie Harriette. It was even more remarkable since it is Dekkers’ first attempt at choreography. More, please!
This is an outstanding initiative by The Royal Ballet, and it is so good to see the talent in such a range of companies from around the world, without leaving London!
Graham Watts is a freelance writer and dance critic. He writes for The Spectator, Tanz, Shinshokan Dance Magazine (Japan), Ballet Magazine (Romania), BachTrack and the Hong Kong International Arts Festival and has previously written for the Sunday Express, Dancing Times, Dance Europe, DanceTabs, London Dance, the Edinburgh International Festival and Pointe magazine (USA). He has also written the biography of Daria Klimentová (The Agony and the Ecstasy) and contributed chapters about the work of Akram Khan to the Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet and on Shobana Jeyasingh for the third edition of Routledge’s Fifty Contemporary Choreographers.
He is Chairman of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle and of the UK National Dance Awards and regularly lectures on dance writing and criticism at The Royal Academy of Dance, The Place and (until the war) for Balletristic in Kyiv. He was a nominee for the Dance Writing Award in the 2018 One Dance UK Awards and was appointed OBE in 2008.
