'Object Ours' reviews 'Manon' reviews 'Vertiginous Thrill' reviews Oughtred in reviews Ondiviela in reviews recent Ballet Moves reviews more Jeffery Taylor reviews Web version held on Ballet.co by kind permission of Jeffery Taylor and the Sunday Express Express Website

In a frighteningly brief two week’s rehearsal, the Royal Ballet’s Ernst Meisner squeezed eleven RB and seven Kirov Ballet principals and soloists into an eclectic mix ‘n’ match programme.

Watching talented dancers spread their wings is always thrilling. However dancing a snippet divested of orchestra, scenery, other dancers and an adoring audience of 2,000, can create serious vacuums. Of the three showcase duets culled from elaborate productions in great Opera Houses, Alexei Ratmansky’s two pieces from the Kirov’s Cinderella, without the back up remained uninspired and obtuse, but Mara Galeazzi made Kenneth MacMillan’s Bedroom pas de deux from Manon crackle, defining every nuance and assuming nothing from her audience.

Meisner and Thomas Whitehead played the fool with empty water bottles while, Natashe Oughtred oozed quality with every step she took, particularly in Noah D Gelber’s small but exquisite Object Ours, created especially for the season. Backed by Anton Pimonov (Kirov) and the Royal Ballet’s outrageously talented, and young, Ludovic Ondiviela, she explores the music’s depths with authority and sensitivity. A scopey technique, a sense of fun and a lot of soul waiting to get, Oughtred is one to watch.

The big finale was William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, which worked spectacularly well, designed as it is specifically for a blank stage and featuring breakneck choreography that leaves both dancers and audiences gasping,. Royal Ballet principal Edward Watson played up like mad to his home town audience who loved it all and went home happy. Surely a ringing endorsement for more of the same from The Orchard.