'Gently Touch' reviews 'Uneven Ground' reviews 'Monotones II' reviews 'Piano Concerto' reviews Tsuchiya in reviews Caley in reviews recent Royal Ballet School reviews more Eric Taub reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

Kirk Peterson's 'The Eyes That Gently Touch,' from 1990, is part of a Philip Glass trilogy by Peterson, the last installment of which, 'Amazed in Burning Dreams,' was given by American Ballet Theatre last year. Unfortunately, 'Amazed in Burning Dreams' was dreadful, as is 'The Eyes That Gently Touch,' the best part of which is its title. There's a lot of commotion for three couples, as if Peterson's response to Glass' 'Mad Rush' was to present one of his own. Cramming too many steps onto each beat does not choreography make, although the dancers were, for the most part, up to Peterson's difficulties, however contrived.

The "Fanny Elssler Pas de Deux" from Ashton's 'La Fille Mal Gardee' was a breath of fresh air in comparison, especially as danced by the diminutive couple of Ayano Tsuchiya and Joseph Caley. Tsuchiya's big jetes, literally throwing her right foot to the ceiling and willing the rest of her body to follow, were thrilling, although her charm seemed a bit brittle when she had no technical obstacles to surmount. While Caley had some difficulties with his beastly hard solos, his poise and easy fluidity, as well as his easy rapport with the audience, mark him as a talent to be watched.

The dancers approached the familiar bits of 'Raymonda' which concluded the program's first half with admirable precision. The couples who echo Raymonda and Jean de Brienne during the grand pas de deux had more unity and cohesion than I've seen from most professional companies: the shoulder-sits were perfectly synchronized, and each girl held her leg at exactly the same attitude, an ideal honored most often in its breach. However, there's a thin line between precision and a stultifying correctness, and these students often looked like they were so concerned with placing their legs in just the right place that it suffocated their movement. The most beautiful line (and these students have beautiful lines) dies when it becomes divorced from its surrounding movement. Some of the tempi were almost absurdly slow to my ears (especially Raymonda's releve/passe combination, which moved only slightly faster than continental drift), although I was fascinated by the staging of Raymonda's solo, where she appears to swoon into deep cambre positions, as if she were suddenly fatigued or overcome with emotion. Milena Sidorova was a strong Raymonda, but more brassy than regal.

Paul Boyd's 'Uneven Ground,' set to various songs by the Argentinian Mercedes Sosa, showed off the students in an very different light. In their loose khaki pants, t-shirts and baseball caps, these seven boys and a girl (who starts out appearing to be just one of the guys) have the look of a youth hostel group vacationing in some Latin location. Freed from the strictures of Raymonda's classicism, here the students were strong, confident and downright virtuosic, not hesitant and tentative as they'd been. 'Uneven Ground' starts out as a bunch of boys slouching and fooling around; the tenor changes abruptly when the girl (Jade Payette) reveals herself by doffing her baseball cap and shaking out her long hair. She shows off for the boys, who reward her with a hungry appreciation. Given that she casually tosses off a completely unexpected, huge double tour (starting from a deep-seated crouch), she certainly got my appreciation as well; I only wish Boyd had allowed her more than one.

After some slightly shaky partnering at the beginning, Heather Chin, Thomas Forster and George Hill beautifully caught the languorous mood of Ashton's 'Monotones II.' Here the dancers' line breathed as it didn't in 'Raymonda,' grace of the tall and leggy Chin's sensitivity. The program concluded with Robert Hill's 'Piano Concerto #2,' set to Lowell Liebermann's concerto of the same name. A large and energetic work for twelve dancers, 'Piano Concerto #2' competently displays its dancers without giving, or allowing, them much inspiration. According to the program, Hill created this work for the school, and it looks like a keyboard exercise writ large.

Perhaps because they were given more of a chance to shine in 'Uneven Ground,' the strong boys left more of an impression (although I'd have a hard time associating most with their names) than the girls, with the exception of the sultry firecracker Payette, and the statuesque Chin, both of whom I expect we'll be hearing more from, and soon.