It’s rare to see the Royal Ballet outside their Covent Garden base, so it’s a coup for Doncaster to host a show by some of the best dancers in the UK (which comes in tandem with education projects in the city). Rather than lay on a big Swan Lake or similar, they’ve opted for a gala of more than a dozen short works. There are pros and cons to the format but overall it’s a good call, showing the huge span of what a 21st-century ballet company does, from soloist Mariko Sasaki nailing the fouettés in classical showpiece Le Corsaire to Nadia Mullova-Barley comically making balloon models in Kristen McNally’s To Be Thought of Fondly.
A highlight is the arresting simplicity of Ben Stevenson’s Prelude, with a sensitive and meticulous Melissa Hamilton, and there’s a triumphant moment for local girl Charlotte Tonkinson, dancing the second act pas de deux from Swan Lake, approaching each step as if it were a precious object. The format means a lot of pas de deux, including one from Angelin Preljocaj’s Le Parc that doesn’t quite catch alight. What could be a gradual swell towards ecstasy, culminating in a kiss with the woman swung in circles still attached at the lips, lacks electricity and vulnerability between Yasmine Naghdi and Reece Clarke. Most interesting is a confident and stylish piece by young company dancer Joshua Junker, set to Elvis songs, featuring a duo for the very simpatico pairing of Lukas Braendsrød and Liam Boswell that has the light-footed prowl of a couple of big cats.
Another good call is the mostly live music, Kate Shipway and Robert Clark on piano – although they seem to have agreed to take everything at a drawn-out tempo – and impressive violinist Soh-Yon Kim, who shares the stage for the finale with a tap-dancing Steven McRae. McRae’s a real showman and this confidence, mastery and personality (also demonstrated by Marcelino Sambé in the vigorous urgency of Wayne McGregor’s Chroma) is something for younger performers to learn. The programme could’ve done with a few more fireworks, but it’s fantastic to see the dancers on a different, more intimate stage.
