Ismene Brown

Boys on the march

Plus more boys on the march: Christopher Wheeldon’s Mesmerics makes BalletBoyz’ latest worth catching

Rosie Kay's 5 Soldiers (Photo: Tim Cross) 
issue 09 May 2015

In dance, it’s usually the moment the boys start fighting that challenges your suspension of disbelief. Synchronised fencing (MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet), unison goosestepping (Grigorovich’s Spartacus), even the Sharks and Jets in Robbins’s West Side Story, are formation set-pieces designed to arouse us. Last year there was a bunch of ballets made by British choreographers to mark the first world war centenary, which artfully focused on sorrow.

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