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Central School of BalletEnglish Nat Ballet School Royal Ballet School Central: ENBS: RBS: London, Bloomsbury Theatre, London, Britten Theatre, London, Covent Garden by Bruce Marriott |
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This year I got to three end-of-year school shows, all different in tone and all pleasant and uplifting ways to spend time. Ballet Central were at the Bloomsbury Theatre with the most diverse programme featuring 14 pieces to show off the three years in the school. While the name is Central School of Ballet they actually offer the most diverse dance education, reflected in a bill that ranged from contemporary dance through jazz and classical ballet to excerpts from The Boyfriend - the musical / Ken Russell movie. Great also to see 'our' students - those who have been keeping a weblog of their final year tour for us. Highlights of the Central show included Simple Symphony by Nellie Happee, a beguiling, light, work of great quality to Benjamin Britten's music (more please), Bintley's Scottish Dances (from Flowers in the Forest) which is always playful fun and Sara Matthews' Superstruct.
Sara Matthews' modern works are a great feature of Central shows and this year's, to an original Philip Feeney take on John Adams/Philip Glass style was no different. In what can be twee, school-show territory Matthews always brings modern professionalism and depth to the party. More to the point, she knows how to handle a large cast well and fills a stage with vibrant but highly organised movement while showing everybody to advantage. It proved a good ending to the night. Earlier we also saw the second year in excerpts from de Valois's The Rake's Progress: a strong work to put on given the school's dramatic ethos and good to see it again. Nice one for Central. Finally it's impossible not to mention the Cubans... Alejandro Virelles Gonzalez and Yanela Pinera Tamayo, guests from the Cuban National School of Ballet. I suspect the school there won't be doing The Boyfriend and the wider variety of the Central approach but boy did they do an amazing Act 3 pdd from Swan Lake. What style, what technique, what fearsome extensions and confidence. Both terrific, but I really warmed to him particularly for such high jumps, wonderfully soft landings and un-showy style. Lots of hits and a good night.
 Central School of Ballet in Sara Matthews' Superstruct © Bill Cooper English National Ballet School presented 3 works. They were all gems. It would be lovely if the schools shows were more widely known about and sold I think. The show opened with Dances from 'Napoli', including the pdd from the Flower Festival of Genzano, all in some colourful period English National Ballet-loaned costumes (by CF Christensen). A huge dose of Bournonville's buoyant and happy style with tambourines everywhere! A crowd-pleaser of a piece and a good test for the students. However it all got wound up a notch further in Irek Mukhamedov's Capriccio Espagnol to some remorseless Rimsky-Korsakov. A piece for 7 couples this was Bolshoi style and attitude in microcosm with fast moving pas de deux multiplied 7 times across a stage that deserved to be twice as large. A heroic piece of fun that left the dancers looking practically dead on their feet (if happy) by the end. Not great or subtle choreography, it none-the-less worked and worked well. Finally Wayne Sleep's Promenade, originally created 10 years ago on Louis Gottschalk's achingly danceable music, piled on more fast-moving work. Style and choreography in abundance. If I had to choose just one show of the three this would have been it - good standards but more importantly good choice of repertoire.
The pinnacle of schools for many is the Royal Ballet School and their annual matinee performance had Covent Garden packed as ever to see 5 diverse pieces. The first, Monochromatic, was by second year RBS student Liam Scarlett and a deft choice to show off the Upper School's first years - everybody was talking about it in the interval. To Prokofiev (piano concerto), neo-classical in style this was confident work with strong patterns filling the stage. A laddie to watch and good programming. I also liked Kirk Peterson's - Philip Glass - piece (The Eyes That Gently Touch) for 3 couples. It actually looked rather similar in style to some of Christopher Wheeldon's work but this was actually created back in 1990 for Pennsylvania Ballet. It proved a fine, moody, show case not least for Nutnaree Pipithsuksunt who now has a soloist contract with San Francisco Ballet - it looks well deserved. Robert Hill's work Piano Concerto No 2 (to Liebermann), created this year especially for the school, looked less strong, if energetic. A low point however was Ann Jenner's Elements to Bizet's Symphony in C, used with such magnificence by Balanchine. People really ought to think twice before taking on a piece with such resonance. For the Lower School, this was twee and unimaginative work that I though unworthy of the school, students or audience of 2000 . Lovely student dancers but you need choreographers to do choreographers' work at this level. The high, and it was a strong one, was Ashton's Les Patineurs - a toughie for any dancers let alone students - it's absolutely adorable in its period William Chappell 1930's designs. Full marks to a happily-in-control Joseph Caley dancing the Blue Boy, but also to the entire cast of 'coloured' boys and girls for skating so strongly in a piece of quality choreography. Just as it should be.
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