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The start of the piece was haunting and beautiful with gorgeous movements from the beginning coupled with music that created a delicious sense of anticipation. After a minute or two the 'intro' music started to dissolve into what can only be described as a lengthy and dismal homage to Philip Glass and from this moment - the first pas de deux of the piece with Melissa and Eric - the piece started to lose all its initial power and intrigue despite the dancers' engaging and elegant delivery throughout. It remain locked in a sort of endless choreographic holding pattern. Put simply, nothing really happened. Vague themes coupled with an over hyped, simplistic and rather laboured visual statement were not enough to make it come to life. The different numbers and combinations of dancers on stage and a few brief moments of action and 'acting' along with the lighting changes only seemed to emphasize the same-y-ness of the piece as a whole.

The moments of semi-acting (I think the alarming phrase 'emotional content' was used somewhere in the documentary) looked awkward and contrived, it almost felt as if someone had 'had a quiet word' and requested something a bit less cold and machine-like this time with a bit more human emotion on display.

It is clear however that Wayne McGregor is passionate, earnest, imaginative, driven in his work and not hindered by either self doubt, chronic indecision or procrastination - as many artists often are. He is also clearly happiest when challenging and exploring both his own style and movement in general and encouraging his dancers to do the same. This is all good, and I have never enjoyed watching his choreography more than in this piece, especially at the beginning and end sections; but developing a choreographic vocabulary and a flavour for a piece is where his talent and/or interest seems to end - as if that was the end point in the whole process of creating a finished work of dance fit for a large theatre. Thinking of other classical or modern, abstract or narrative and various in between pieces and one can visualize them each as a cake, a meringue, a roast dinner, a seafood platter.... with McGregor I see something more like paste. To me it is just not good enough theatre for the ROH main stage!

Without any substantial or specific meaning, music or story to employ this choreography - really put it to work - it is has the feel of endless display rather than expression, like a guitar soloist playing without songs or band, thoughtfully showcasing his best 'guitar licks' for half an hour, in front of an audience appreciating the obvious talent while shifting around in their seats and stifling yawns. This is a shame as it feels like a waste of such stylish, instantly appealing and even at times sophisticated and refined choreography (even if McGregor does have that annoying tendency to choreograph in 'caps lock' so much of the time). Put simply again, he looks like he needs someone with more overall vision and 'sense of theatre' to tell him what to do with his choreography.

As for the actual music of this piece, it was so disappointingly flat, meagre, unoriginal, lifeless and downright miserable that no choreography could possibly express it, or respond to it. The lack of rhythm (not necessarily even percussion) means the dancers are often forced to show the counts in their movements and at times they end up looking like human metronomes rather than dancers dancing on, in, and around a rhythm made real and alive by the music itself. This interaction with rhythm is a huge aspect of so many dance styles, if not all of them, and seems to get omitted in modern dance of this type all the time. It is in my opinion why so many modern pieces have dancers who appear angst ridden, miserable, stony faced, pedestrian (literally in many cases) ... it is essentially because they are dancing to music with no rhythm - no heartbeat!

McGregor comes across as wanting to be a kind of 'pioneer choreographer' pushing the boundaries and going boldly where no choreographer has gone before .... or worse, the 'choreographer-intellectual' who can spend a minute talking like an astro-physicist about such well established and obvious givens as that fact that the stage is quite big so the audience can't focus on all of it at the same time and have to decide where to look if it's full of dancing couples. Really?! Talking up such waffle as if it were a valid theme-to-be-explored-as-subject-matter is exactly the reason why this piece goes nowhere and fails to satisfy on any level other than the enjoyment of watching some of the world's finest dancers interpret his style of movements.

And on that point, let's not forget: with dancers as highly trained, super fit and ultra glamorous as any of cast, any one of them could probably 'throw some balletic shapes' while doing their weekly shop in Tescos and end up getting an applause and a loyal following by the time they'd got to the checkout (and rightly so, I'd probably be grabbing some flowers for them too!). My point is though that putting aside the earnest, chin rubbing themes as given in interviews and in program notes it's worth remembering that what we are actually being given onstage is a bucket load of impossible extension, rippling torsos, skimpy costumes, catwalk-cool (non) expression and an awful lot of very slinky/ sultry/ sexy moves. Could it be that some of those audience members leaving the ROH with their tongues hanging out repeating things like, "OMG that was amaaaaaaazing" are being just a tiny bit manipulated here?

Also small point: given that technology advances at an almost weekly rate these days, for this piece to emphasize (intended or not) the use of such ostentatious display technology (providing by itself, as it inevitably would some of the 'wow factor' associated with the piece) McGregor has probably ensured it the quickest possible route to making it look dated or at least a whole lot less impressive next time around, if there is a next time around. Although I suppose the display and software/graphics driving it could be redesigned just as any set can be.

So with little else but 'choreography' isolated and un-theatrically displayed, in my opinion it all gets reduced to pseudo intellectual waffle in the program notes and expensive 'eye candy' on stage .... put together and you have the dance equivalent of a glossy and expensive coffee table book. As such it only becomes a disappointment if one is expecting or wishing for more than that.

I think that is perhaps the key to understanding why audience opinion of his works (and his current position) at the ROH have been, and continue to be, so divided.

For Art's sake, for ballet's sake and given the status, talent, resources and obligation of such a (publicly part-funded) company as the RB and the ROH as a whole I think we should be expecting and demanding more than this. Also as McGregor's appointment was, I believe, in part a drive to woo (new, young) audiences it might be worth remembering (going back to the analogy) that glossy coffee table books may be very pick-up-able and easy to drool over and enthuse about in moment, but they are also just as easily put down again, be quickly forgotten or discarded. I am not sure anymore, (despite what we are told at various talks and events in the ROH) if the RB really wants new substantial productions (even if they are one or two 'act' ballets) that are worthy and capable of returning again and again and am starting to think maybe the plan is from now on to gradually go 'pop' and only make 'of the moment' disposable works, relying more and more on celebrity buzz, hype, gimmicky audience involvement and relentlessly creative marketing. I really do hope this is not the case.