Royal Ballet Triple Bill
Royal Opera House
The nurturing of home-grown choreographic talent has always played a central role in the history of the Royal Ballet. Undaunted by the possible ups and downs of the experimental approach, Ninette de Valois, the company’s founder, set up a unique platform for budding dance-makers. True, not everything was a success and not everything stood the test of time; but, had it not been for her risk-taking, modern-dance history would have suffered a great deal. Against the pressures and the fashionable trends of today’s ‘artistic globalisation’, which prescribes the import/export of a universally adaptable prêt à porter kind of choreography, the company has long remained faithful to the principles of its creator. Experimentation happens at different levels and is carefully monitored through well-established patterns; long before hitting the main stage, new dance-makers are invited to present their works within specifically supportive contexts, such as the events hosted in either the Clore Studio Upstairs or the Linbury Theatre. Yet it would be a mistake to expect that such carefully monitored progression guarantees the success of the works that finally make it to the big stage, or that whoever has a work premièred by the company is the much-sought-after ‘next one’ — as the making of a choreographic genius relies on other and often unpredictable factors.
This is the spirit in which, I believe, one ought to attend the current triple bill, which includes Jonathan Watkins’s new work As One. Brought up artistically within the company, Watkins has had a fairly consistent string of successes with a number of works shown in both the Clore and the Linbury. As One draws upon a favourite theme of his — namely, the study of human behaviour, which he first approached with promising results in a student work based on Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four.
Viewers are confronted with a chequered taxonomy of different situations in the everyday life of diverse human beings, voyeuristically gazed at in their habitats. The result is visually stunning, thanks also to Simon Daw’s slick scenic ideas, though they are theatrically uneven. Little matter whether the enclosed ‘fish tank’-like theme of people in rooms and apartments has frequently been used by some of the greatest names of modern ballet and dance; what is truly problematic is the naivety of some ideas, which detracts considerably from an otherwise engaging and, at times, refreshingly captivating choreography. The duet on and around the coach is too predictable movement-wise, and so is the house-party scene. In each instance the annoying feature is the use of a tritely graphic narrative, which could easily have been replaced by a more daring, yet powerfully effective abstraction of the danced action. Despite the unevenness of its content and of its structurally and thematically wonky, or undeveloped, framework, As One clearly shows that Watkins can create and deliver some good dance moments. The first night’s success ought also be ascribed to Graham Fitkin’s superbly provocative score and, above all, to the dancing of artists like Laura Morera, Yuhui Choe, Kristen McNally, Edward Watson, Steve McRae and Ludovic Ondiviela.
I have already had a chance to discuss the two other items on the programme, Kim Brandstrup’s intoxicating Rushes, Fragments of a Lost Story and Wayne McGregor’s mesmerising Infra; all I can add is that the company looked terrific and gave a memorable rendition of both, thanks also to principals such as Alina Cojocaru, Carlos Acosta, Marianela Nuñez, Sarah Lamb, Mara Galeazzi and Ricardo Cervera. Although this programme might be more for connoisseurs than for those wanting a ‘pretty ballet’ evening out, it is a well-devised one, and definitely worth seeing.
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