'Dangerous Liaisons' reviews 'MiddleSexGorge' reviews 'White Man Sleeps' reviews SB 'Cheating, Lying'... reviews RB 'Cheating, Lying'... reviews recent Scottish reviews more Graham Watts reviews

This first night at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre marked the end of the beginning of Page’s reign as Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet as he brought his new-look company out of its long hibernation.

Page has promised a new, modern direction for Scottish Ballet and he set out his stall through this opening programme in a very purposeful and courageous way. This combination of Alston, Petronio, Davies and Page’s own work, achieved his stated objective of revisiting some of the most innovative modern work, in an Anglo-American choreographic alliance, from the rich period of contemporary dance in the latter half of the 1980s.

The programme had the feel of announcing the winners in reverse order, certainly in terms of the increasing volume of adulation from a largely young audience, which itself promises good things for the company’s future. Where Alston’s ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ was received with a fairly low-key response, the cheers grew louder at the conclusion of each succeeding piece until Page’s own ‘Cheating, Lying, Stealing’ drew a deservedly rapturous response.

The programme was a very revealing selection of pieces, cleverly demonstrating the strength of Page’s artistic integrity. The interlinking threads of movement, energy, and spatial composition, tied together with steadily evolving sound and music, and very effective lighting and costume, made this programme feel like a well-ordered whole rather than the ad-hoc collection of some vaguely similar parts, so often the case with mixed modern programmes

I haven’t yet managed to fully appreciate the raw, stripped-down essence of Alston’s choreography although I’m getting there! ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ does have some very arresting moments in which the power generated by the two trios of dancers erupts into a memorable episode. But these are just too few and far between.

The first night performers were Patricia Hines, Diana Loosmore (who was a member of the Richard Alston Dance Company for 3 years), Mark Kimmett (a young and very promising home-grown dancer), Claire Robertson, Martina Forsioso and Erik Cavallari. This opening group melded three of Ashley Page’s new recruits with three that he inherited. Whether intentioned or not, it was a perfect representation of the new-look company with which to start this new era.

The American part of the dance alliance was provided by Stephen Petronio’s ‘MiddleSexGorge’, a stimulating and intriguing dance which grew as a concept from Petronio’s costume for a Dance Umbrella photo-shoot in 1990. Stuck for something to wear, he grabbed a corset and sewed some silk flowers onto a pair of y-fronts. He liked the look so much that he began to develop movement around it and ‘MiddleSexGorge’ was born.

The movement is set to a 24-minute remix of Wire’s ‘Ambitious Plus’ and the fact that it works so well is amazing since the dance and the music only arrived together on the day of its premiere in October 1990!

The SB dancers gave a very powerful performance, rippling throughout with an electric buzz of erotic energy. I was particularly impressed by the perfectly controlled power of José Oduardo Perez, the new First Principal who has arrived from Cuba, via the Dresden Ballet. He looked, and danced, like a young Carlos Acosta. One memorable multiple spin in the air easily captured the wow factor!

There was another impressive debut from Jarkko Lehmus who also provided an extremely powerful stage presence. The piece was opened by Vassilissa Levtonova and Lorna Scott and the ensemble was completed by Emma Sandall, Lilian Pommier, Adam Blyde and Mark Kimmett

If the energy of the first two pieces was all thunder and lightning, it translated into something akin to a gentle waterfall for Siobhan Davies’ ‘White Man Sleeps’. This is about the fluidity of movement: a rhythmic, undulating rippling effect flows through, and between, the dancers’ bodies to a mesmerising accompaniment of two harpsichords, a cello and percussion.

‘White Man Sleeps’ succeeded perfectly in providing an oasis of calm at the heart of an otherwise frenetic programme. It was performed by Hines, Loosmore, Anne Dancer, Blyde and a very busy Kimmett.

The evening closed with Ashley Page’s own ‘Cheating, Lying, Stealing’, linking three separate pieces of music by David Lang and Michael Gordon, performed from the rear of the stage by Icebreaker. Although it comes closer to a narrative than any of the preceding pieces, it merely provides the essence of a story of desire and betrayal, without beginning or end.

The central core is performed by two couples: the new First Principal ballerina, Tatiana Loginova, and Cristo Vivancos, reprising the roles created on Mara Galeazzi (who will dance the role with SB as a Guest Artist from next week) and Irek Mukhamedov, supported by established SB soloists, Claire Robertson and Robin Bernadet.

The strength of the choreography is contained within these central passages, interlinking the pas de deux and pas de quatre between these four dancers, heavily centred on the Loginova character’s portrayal of the dance’s title, performed in front of a sofa, eventually engulfed in flames.

On the evidence of this first night, Scottish Ballet has a bright new future. Ashley Page may not be choosing the safest commercial route, as was evidenced by many empty seats last night, but it will be a fascinating journey founded on clearly articulated artistic integrity and it fully deserves to succeed.

Page has kept some excellent dancers from the original retinue (Robertson and Kimmett were especially convincing) and his new recruits demonstrated his ability to identify and attract some wonderful talent to Scotland. Forget about what’s in Edinburgh Castle, Perez and Loginova are Scotland’s newest Crown Jewels in amongst a treasure chest of modern dance talent!

Scotland is busily regenerating its strong national identity with a new Parliament Building as an icon to prove it. Much has been written about how much this is going to cost but the building will have become the architectural centrepiece of a new Scottish heritage, long after the initial price has been forgotten.

It is absolutely appropriate that this revitalised national identity should incorporate a reborn Scottish ballet that sits perfectly in the strong cultural face of Scotland. With vitality and a purposeful new direction, Ashley Page has set about proving that he is the Renaissance Man to make this happen.