Carlos Acosta
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Jerome Robbins, the undisputed, though often unsung, father of modern American ballet, was one of the few dance-makers who could successfully choreograph to Bach’s music. Undaunted by the morass of cultural, historical and artistic biases that still surrounds the compositions of the baroque master, Robbins approached Bach with an intriguing mix of respect, in-depth musical understanding and modern-day wit. In his ‘Bach’ creations, the dance idiom is never a mere translation/adaptation of the music, but an ideal complement to the same, which highlights the scores’ linear complexities by responding to the music’s incessant inventiveness with a seamless outpouring of ideas. Look, for example, at A Suite of Dances, the stunning centrepiece of a sparkling programme starring Carlos Acosta, which I saw last week at Sadler’s Wells.
Set to the first of the well-known suites for cello, the ballet draws upon the subtle interplay between the score’s structural inventions and the rich emotional palette conjured up by the music. The solo dancer interacts continuously with the cellist, in what soon becomes an engaging conversation that encompasses tender whispering and joyful banter. Originally created for the Russian superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov, A Suite of Dances finds in Acosta an equally starry and superb interpreter. Known and admired for his breathtaking technical bravura, Acosta is also a dancer endowed with artistic finesse. He is thus capable of captivating the audience whether it be with a whirlwind of difficult turns or an undemanding, pedestrian movement. As such, he was perfectly matched by the cellist Natalie Clein, who playfully interacted with him while giving a passionate rendition of the music.
In line with a well-devised thematic plan that informed the whole evening, the programme opened with another masterwork by Robbins, namely his acclaimed Afternoon of a Faun. Based on the 1912 ballet by Nijinsky of the same title and, like that one, set to Debussy’s haunting score, Robbins’s Faun takes place in a dance studio. The spiralling eroticism of the work is rendered here through a number of actions that the bare-torsoed male dancer performs either alone or with his female companion as if rehearsing in front of the studio’s mirror, symbolised here, with a masterly stroke of theatrical genius, by the proscenium arch. Much of the intoxicating tension derives from the interaction between the dancers’ narcissistic admiration for themselves and the audience’s voyeuristic gaze on the other side of the imaginary mirror. As I have said in the past, Acosta is, arguably, one of the best living interpreters of this work, for he manages to combine a technically spotless rendition with an intense interpretation that makes the most of all the narrative subtleties.
Next to him English National Ballet’s Begoña Cao looked beautiful but technically weak. Squeezed in between the two Robbins ballets, Adam Hougland’s Young Apollo, to music by Britten, created a soft-toned choreographic contrast. Danced with gusto by Erina Takahashi and the dazzling Junor de Oliveira Souza, the duet came across as a refreshing example of modern ballet-making, if not exactly a memorable one.
Luckily, such a pleasant evening concluded on a high note with Balanchine’s Apollo. This has long been one of Acosta’s most deservedly acclaimed warhorses. This time, too, the Cuban dancer was simply sensational as the young god searching for the ideal muse, a technically polished Daria Klimentova. The evening was a tad on the short side, but it was truly a case of quality versus quantity.
The Royal Ballet in Cuba, with Carlos Acosta and the Ballet Boyz, can be seen on More4 on Christmas Day at 9 p.m.
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