Choice pickings

Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Barbican

Swan Lake
Royal Opera House

Scottish Ballet
Queen Elizabeth Hall

As if by tacit agreement, Dance Umbrella and the Royal Ballet started their new seasons with classics of their respective dance cultures. A regular Umbrella visitor, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company is a safe choice to kick off with, for it ticks all the right boxes. As an undisputed father of American modern dance, Cunningham, at 89, is one of the most iconic figures of today’s dance world; his choreographic work too, which derives some principles from the classical idiom, has for modern dance followers the same significance that Swan Lake has for the ballet lot. As is customary, the first programme on show provided a well formulated overview of recent and not-so-recent works, moving from the splendidly rarefied atmospheres of 1960’s Crises, to the electrifying game of choreographic dissonances of 2007’s Xover set to the equally irresistible John Cage’s ‘Aria’. This was masterfully performed live by Joan La Barbara and the Fontana Mix Performers.

The dance, therefore, was not merely a tribute to where it came from historically, but also provided viewers with a unique insight into the current and, I am happy to say, healthy state of modern dance. It shows that this genre still has tons to offer despite the proliferation of other and somewhat newer choreographic trends. I only wish the dancers had displayed more definition in their action, for the performance was often marred by lack of stylistic clarity and technical refinement. Yet, when the great master himself appeared at the end, the standing ovation was utterly de rigueur, for the evening had been a truly good one.

Swan Lake, too, is a safe choice for the opening of a new ballet season, for it is likely to guarantee a full house, especially when the central double role of Odette/Odile is danced by Marianela Nuñez.