© John Ross RB 'Tombeaux' reviews 'Tombeaux' reviews RB 'Enigma Variations' reviews 'Enigma Variations' reviews RB 'Rite of Spring' reviews 'Rite of Spring' reviews Rojo in reviews recent RB reviews more Bruce Marriott reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

More is being seen of David Bintley (the Birmingham Royal Ballet company director) at Covent Garden these days but it was rather fraught back in 1993 when he resigned from the plum job of RB resident choreographer for lack of commissions. Tombeaux was his last piece and it's a gem. Part homage to Frederick Ashton, his choreographic hero, there is much wonderful, sharp classicism here (it picks up on Scenes de Ballet), but with it much free-thinking innovation particularly for the central couple. I'd always remembered its beautiful, slow inverted lifts, but there are many other unexpected reversals going on in a packed 25 minutes. The Jasper Conran designs (his first for dance) echo the fresh look at ballet - they've aged well and still look chic. But Bintley, about to leave the institution he loved, works on us at an emotional level too - the piece is bright and breezy and then deeply reflective by turns, ending in poetic melancholy as the central partnership is broken. Good to see it back on the stage it was created on.

Frederick Ashton's Enigma Variations is much loved by audiences and far too short. Or too short to contain all it crams in. Centred on the composer Elgar, a succession of friends and relatives are depicted in short fragmentary solos and duets, most of which seem over before they begin. It's a piece of endless hors d'oeuvres: interesting but ultimately unsatisfying. Much work and intelligence seems to have gone into distilling down some complex relationships and interactions but I don't feel drawn into it or care about any of the people portrayed on stage. The sets (Julia Trevelyan Oman, and to whom these performances are dedicated) are an Edwardian wonder and the number of cameo roles makes it a great piece for the company - and danced well overall I thought - but I'd cheerfully abandon it (along with Act 1 of Ashton's Cinderella too). Yes I know I'm out of order.
 

Kenneth MacMillan created his version of Rite of Spring in 1962, 6 years before Enigma Variations but it's a far more modern piece in concept and execution. To Stravinsky's legendary score this is primaeval superstition and bloody sacrifice writ large. Tamara Rojo was the opening night Chosen One, as she was when English National Ballet revived the work in 1999. For good reason - she's one of the scariest dance communicators in the world and her womanly physique only underlines the shivering terror of what happens. The piece overall, with its mud-man, dread-locked and stomping look, remains startling, although some of the group work lost power for not being as coordinated as it ought. That will tighten up, but it's Rojo's night.