'Genzano' reviews 'Concerto' reviews recent Royal Ballet School reviews more Lynette Halewood reviews

One reason I’ve always been fond of the RBS performances is that it’s often a chance to see some elusive pieces that may have slipped out of the repertory, and so it proved on this occasion. There was a delightful Ashton waltz from Swan Lake, long gone from the opera house stage: a rare chance to see some Bournonville (Flower Festival at Genzano); an excerpt from Bintley’s Flowers of the Forest, and MacMillan’s Concerto in full. The programme might have been devised to reassure us that the school at least still has some interest in the English repertoire and tradition, and was dedicated to the memory of Princess Margaret.

To underline this, the programme opened with the youngest pupils in Princess Margaret’s Strathspey, accompanied by Her Maj’s personal piper. The calmness and self possession were quite remarkable. The second item was Irish dancing which brought out rather more exuberance in the performers. Folk dancing has always been part of the performance, though I don’t remember this being quite as Riverdance as this before. Three couples in year 9 then performed a bright and bouncy clog dance.

The next item was rather more unusual in that it mixed a wide variety of student age groups on stage. This was Schubertiade, an early work (1994) by Christopher Wheeldon, made for the School. It begins with a couple of the youngest pupils who are succeeded by older pupils: but there are some interesting experiments where some of the older students dance with the very youngest. I think it was Alexander Jones (year 11) who ended up partnering Sophie Le Roex, and even lifting her while a tiny girl was perched on his shoulders. (Jonathan Cope doesn’t have to put up with this sort of thing, you know). It did show a nice feel for the music, and remarkable confidence by the cast – of all ages.

The Flower Festival at Genzano Pas de deux was performed by two students from the Upper School, Momoko Hirata and Paul Kay. This went very smoothly, and they reacted to one another well – it’s difficult to establish a character in such a short time but she seemed shy but charming, and there was some nice footwork particularly from him.

The next two items offered something of a contrast. Verdi Variations was according to the programme ‘structured around classroom exercises’ and it did rather look like it. It got plenty of the students on stage but didn’t really give them much to get their teeth into. The pas de douze from Swan Lake Act 1 by Ashton was such a contrast – a wonderfully musical piece of choreography that really gave the Upper School students something real and alive to dance. It was very nicely done and handsomely costumed – the boys in particular looked very strong in this. This has of course, disappeared from the Royal’s version of Swan Lake some time ago – a pity because it responds to the music so well.

The second part of the programme, which was a long one, had fewer items. It began with an excerpt (Four Scottish Dances) from Bintley’s Flowers of the Forest, danced (in swirling kilts) to music by Sir Malcolm Arnold. This has a small cast and was a good opportunity to get a close look at the performers. I was impressed by all the males in this (they all have jobs – none of them with UK companies, though). It was a light, bright charming work with some opportunities for comedy as well as pure dance which the cast seemed to relish, and the audience liked a good deal.

The next item was an all-female affair, a staging of the Jardin Animé scene from Le Corsaire. This gave opportunities to two leading soloists (Nutnaree Pipithsuksunt and Elizabeth Harrod), supported by a large corps. The staging was a rather sugary pink which set my teeth on edge a little, but that was nothing to do with the performers who looked very poised and well drilled.

The final item was MacMillan’s Concerto, given in full. Nice to see something of his work included in this anniversary year. It’s bold of the School to take this on. The work has been in the repertory of the Royal relatively recently and it isn’t the easiest work to get under the skin of, particularly the slow central pas de deux. (I recall Mara Galeazzi and Michael Nunn taking a number of performances to really get to grips with this and bring out the finer nuances.) Grace Poole and Ross Clarke gave a smooth performance of this, and even the difficult ‘levitating ‘ balance (where she blances over his outstretched knee and seems to float) came off well. He was an unselfish partner (he’s off to Pittsbugh Ballet Theatre). There’s plenty of work for the corps in this work as well, though seeing this on the same programme as the Ashton is a reminder of how much more subtle and varied Ashton’s handling of a corps is – MacMillan organises them in big blocks and with broad strokes and lots of unison, rather than Ashton’s fine detailing. Overall, a very professional performance.