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Seeing Chroma when it was new I was bowled over. Here for once was a work that was recognisably classical but refreshingly forward looking in its use of the language. I still find the same zest, the vim and vigour that make this a refreshingly intoxicating work. But any less well performed, would this piece look any different than much that you may see in many contemporary companies? And the programming with Rite of Spring showed us MacMillan had got there 45 years before in some of the couplings and partnering.

But what a delight to see such a talented cast pushing themselves to their limits – and beyond, with such enjoyment and style. I don’t think at this first performance of the run the cast were as totally on as at the premiere performances, but they were stunning in themselves and showed the choreography to perfection. I hope that this is a piece that will be more widely seen.

Unlike…

In the rather worthy but not that illuminating articles about Different Drummer in the programme there is a quote from Georg Büchner to his fiancée – “what is it in us that lies, murders and steals?”

How apt a summary of MacMillan’s œuvre. Apt too given the recent news from my home town (which is never in the news) – a 14 year old girl stabbed over 30 times in a park on her way home. Why? Perhaps, though I had never understood MacMillan’s predilection for such subjects, given such behaviour perhaps this is still a theme for ballet to explore, to throw light on human motivation, however depraved the circumstances.

Trouble is, with Different Drummer we are none the wiser, (though judging by the rather dazed reactions after the performance on 2 February the bars at the ROH will be doing good business as a consequence). I’m rather a literal soul, so I want to understand the relationship between Marie and Woyzeck; I want to understand Woyzeck’s motivation; I want to understand what “a soldier” is doing in the piece. I want the dance to grow out of the music, not be at odds with it (think of Gloria). Others less worryingly literal than me have commented about the expressionistic, ambiguous, episodic dreamlike qualities of both Wozzeck and Different Drummer. I’m sure it was all clear in MacMillan’s mind, but for me at least it doesn’t translate to the stage.

Why does Woyzeck wrap his head in what appears to be the baby’s swaddling clothes? Why does “a soldier” appear in a crown of thorns? Why does this soldier carry a decapitated head? (Was this John the Baptist’s head? Probably not). Why does Woyzeck murder Marie after their seeming reconciliation? Why does the dance not emerge as an expression of the music? Why do characters leave the stage with no motivation after a scene?

All of which could make fascinating theatre – and I would be more charitable if it were all better realised. Why was the production so badly lit that the soldier’s head could be mistaken for a baby? Why is Woyzeck’s drowning invisible if you are house left? The captain conceived as a silent film thug? After Anastasia you would have hoped that prancing soldiers were left alone, but no. Soldiers in gas masks? Ladies of pleasure from the MacMillan Academy of Carnal Delights – again? It all smacks of undergraduate wanna-shockability, but is desperately maladroit (as in dramatic terms was his TV version of Seven Deadly Sins from 1984 too, also created on Alessandra Ferri).

As has been said by other posters here, perhaps a smaller theatre would show Different Drummer to better advantage, but in its current form it looks like one of those intractable pieces unsuited for the vastness of an opera house which has the consequence of making ballet a medium unsuited to carry the seriousness of MacMillan’s exploration of human behaviour.

The one quality I find in MacMillan’s work is a sense of claustrophobia. Here, and from the same year that Different Drummer was created, I remember his production of Strindberg’s Dance of Death at the Manchester Royal Exchange which had the same sense of human beings stultifying in their own existence. I’ve had the same response to My Brother My Sisters, Triad and The Judas Tree.

It just doesn’t work as good theatre – for me, not redeemed even by some splendid performances. I’m not normally a fan of Leanne Benjamin but here she was very impressive; hard to credit it’s 24 years since I first saw her dance. What wonderful control and extended balances. Martin Harvey too was very good, not so scorching as his recent Gaveston, but with all the drama, power of the role’s creator, Stephen Jefferies – plus some more. Edward Watson did everything that was thrown at him very strongly – but somehow there was a sense of abandon missing, somehow he was too elegant.

And so to the light relief of The Rite of Spring. I was lucky enough to see this for the first time in 1982, from high up in the amphitheatre. The scissor like movements, trapping Monica Mason’s chosen maiden (in her last performance in the role) as she hops have remained an indelible memory. Seeing the work subsequently it’s never had the same power, until this revival. Having an oblique view of the stage was interesting, the patterns and floor formations stand such scrutiny – but the best part of this revival was the attack of the ensemble. The pulsated energy and primal excitement while being wonderfully precise and disciplined.

The disappointment for me was Tamara Rojo. Essentially I had the same response to this performance as when seeing her in the role with ENB: this was a rather contained, careful performance. Some lovely moments (she reminded me of Lynn Seymour in her circular, flailing run around the stage) but other moments that require a steely strength seemed under projected. The hopping between the scissor pinches looked like a playground game, not a desperate attempt to escape the pincer movement. The S-shaped leaping back bends near the end were sketched (the difference with Mara Galeazzi in the photos here is striking) rather than fully shaped.

But as a company performance overall this was hugely impressive and rescued the piece and rescued it from the psychedelic, Sixties’ primitivism that have hung over recent revivals. Here was a choreographer in charge, re-visualising the music (thanks, glad to have seen the Nijinsky reconstruction but … ), a pulsating piece that illuminates the subject, provides great opportunities for the performers and fills the theatre with energy and excitement.