Diaghilev still dazzles

Ballets Russes
English National Ballet, Sadler’s Wells

On the opening night, Elena Glurdjidze appeared as the Dying Swan with a tutu designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel. Predictably, the tutu, more than Glurdjidze’s good performance, became the object of discussion. Personally, I found it confirmed what I have always thought about modern-day couturiers having a go at theatre costumes: it simply does not work. Stunning as it may be, the Lagerfeld tutu detracts greatly from the modernist choreography that Michael Fokine devised for Anna Pavlova. Take, for instance, the feathery choke or ruff that breaks the line of the neck, thus affecting the lyrical lines that renders this brief solo unique. On Saturday, Anaïs Chalendard’s superb performance benefited greatly from a reproduction of Pavlova’s original costume.

The other new touch in the first programme came with David Dawson’s Faun(e), a contemporary revisitation of Nijinsky’s L’après-midi d’un faune (1912). This powerful duet for male dancers, set to Debussy’s haunting score played on two pianos by Kevin Darvas and Chris Swithinbank, can be read in myriad ways. In my view, what stands out is the captivating fluidity of the movement vocabulary, a truly apt neo-impressionist reading of the Impressionist score. I am sure Debussy would have loved it, for he never liked what Nijinsky had done to his music.