Ballet loves an event, an opportunity to pull out the posh frocks off stage and on, and to showcase the jewels of its long repertoire, giving a new set of dancers the chance to polish their skills and display their talents.
Wednesday’s Diamond Celebration at the Royal Opera House was burnished by the presence in the theatre of a true ballet diamond, Mikhail Baryshnikov, fresh from being presented with a prestigious Queen Elizabeth II coronation award by the Royal Academy of Dance. But its main purpose was to celebrate 60 years of the Friends of the Royal Opera House, the organisation of members that supports the institution’s work.
Friends organisations are unique bodies – passionate, committed, knowledgeable; giving their membership money in return for extra access and additional behind-the-scenes knowledge. They’ve even paid for this party in their honour, and perhaps it was this sense of being buoyed up by affectionate support that made this such an adventurous programme, presenting not only work from the Royal Ballet’s illustrious past but also four world premieres that look to the future.
Of these, the most luminous was Dispatch Duet by the only female choreographer on the bill, Pam Tanowitz. This is a wonder of a pas de deux for William Bracewell and Anna Rose O’Sullivan that seems to question itself even as it unfolds. In snazzy white tops and shorts, slashed with red (for him) and blue (for her), the couple are first revealed against a bank of unlit lights, like skaters waiting to take to the rink.
When Ted Hearne’s music begins, they walk forward, making quick, sharp jumps or straight arabesques. Their arms straighten and flare in an intricate semaphore. At one point she hops into the wings on one leg; at another, they sit at the front of the amphitheatre watching us, watching each other. There’s a delicate tenderness, flashes of classical posturing undercut by sudden softness. At the end she nuzzled his shoulder, both stiff and melting. It was only seven minutes long butfelt substantial, intriguing, beautiful – and beautifully danced.
Benoit Swan Pouffer’s Concerto pour deux is a less dense affair, set to the music of Saint-Preux, but it cleverly uses the dramatic lyricism of Natalia Osipova and the fierce presence of Steven McRae to evoke an enveloping romance. It’s nice to see the Rambert artistic director making work for Covent Garden; it would be lovely if his next piece was more substantial.
Joseph Toonga is the Royal Ballet’s emerging choreographer, and you can feel the heft of his talent in See Us!!, an act of protest that begins and ends with a black arm raised in defiance. In between, a phalanx of 10 dancers negotiate a balance between their classically trained bodies and the expressiveness of hip-hop, stamping and running to Michael “Mikey J” Asante’s remarkably effective orchestral score. There are wonderful moments: a girl tilting backwards as her foot pushes forward; expansive arm gestures that frame and move the group. It needs more development but feels like a calling card.
The final world premiere was Valentino Zucchetti’s Prima, to Saint-Saëns Third Violin Concerto, danced with commitment and precision by Francesca Hayward, Fumi Kaneko, Yasmine Naghdi and Mayara Magri, dressed in sculptural bright costumes by Roksanda Ilinčić. It’s pretty and accomplished but pales in comparison with Christopher Wheeldon’s For Four, originally made in 2006 for a US dance spectacular, to extracts from Schubert’s Death and the Maiden.
The Royal Ballet slipped it on like an elegant glove, with Marcelino Sambé and Matthew Ball in particular relishing its insouciant inventiveness, joyfully competing with Vadim Muntagirov and James Hay as to who could jump higher, turn faster or tilt their hips with more ease and brilliance. It’s a lovely addition to the repertory.
The programme opened with more familiar classics – a pas de deux from La Fille mal gardée by Frederick Ashton, a duet from Qualia by Wayne McGregor and a rapturous interpretation of a pas de deux from Manon with Calvin Richardson and Akane Takada. It closed with the formal symmetries of George Balanchine’s Diamonds – the final section of Jewels, in which Marianela Nuñez’s radiance and artistry illuminated the entire stage.
