© John Ross 'Children of Adam' reviews RB 'Apollo' reviews 'Apollo' reviews RB 'Theme and Variations' reviews 'Theme and Variations' reviews Cojocaru in reviews Kobborg in reviews Gallery of Photographs 1 Gallery of Photographs 2 recent RB reviews The Big Ballet reviews more Jeffery Taylor reviews Web version held on Ballet.co by kind permission of Jeffery Taylor and the Sunday Express Express Website

Unfortunately this did not happen in the premiere of Alastair Marriott’s Children of Adam where Kenneth MacMillan’s Rite of Spring collides clumsily with The Judas Tree.

However principals Steven McRae, Johannes Stepanek and Leanne Benjamin are worth the price of a ticket along with the rest of the RB dancers who turn this programme into a triumph. Balanchine’s Apollo with Carlos Acosta as the new born god creating three Muses, Mara Galeazzi, Marianela Nunez and Darcey Bussell, is cool neo classicism. A difficult piece to Stravinsky, but with such a bunch of quality dancers I doubt if it could be bettered anywhere else in the world for purity and clarity.

Balanchine’s newly acquired Theme and Variations, based on Tchaikovsky’s score, appears to have been created specially for the company. Alina Cojocaru’s technique defies classification; whatever is required of her, her body speaks a unique language while Johan Kobborg gives a copy book performance of technical definition and charm.

Later in the week I caught up with The Big Ballet which has nothing whatever to do with purity or clarity. With roots in Victorian freak shows and music hall, the evening is presented on a shoe string. Bolstered by today’s issues like fatism and sexism, the ladies, all non dancers, have hit the jackpot, being paid to show off and indulge embarrassing inner fantasies.

One lady is particularly hypnotic. So crammed packed is her envelope of skin her face seems on the verge of exploding. I held my breath as she bent, jumped and lay on her back wildly waving her legs. She clambered to her feet with extreme difficulty, every exertion threatening a particularly messy special effects disaster.
 

A veil is best drawn over the six youthful male strippers, ironically titled The “Fighting Club” Dance Company, who keep the blue rinses aquiver, but there is no way of avoiding the Chief Hen in the jumbo Swan Lake adaptation. Katya Yurkova heavily invests in guaranteed arthritic knees in later life as she hauls her 110 kilos around en pointe. The sooner she stops the better.