Recent Royal Ballet Reviews 'Worldly Wise' reviews

Only Mukhamedov remained of the original cast on the 6th: but the performance I saw differed somewhat from the original. The premise of the original work was that the Rossini figure (Mukhamedov) was supposed to be under tremendous pressure in his frenzied life in Act I, which was contrasted by his Act II vision scene (all in white - Tharp’s homage to the ballet blanc) of Truth-on-Toe’s cool, calm ideal world. This was followed by an Act III which combined the exuberance of the first act and the austerity of the second into a harmonious balance.

Perhaps Irek has read Tharp’s programme notes now and thought it would be better played for laughs, because that is the approach he takes. I can’t altogether blame him: Tharp’s arguments read better than they danced. In the first act, Mukhamedov now appears to have gone to rather too many good parties than be on the edge of a breakdown. He continually plays to the audience, gesturing to the latest madness that has invaded his life - dancing nuns, several giant vegetables, various men in frocks. The relevance of a giant aubergine to Rossini somehow escaped me, but I have considerable respect for the six performers who whizzed through several costume changes as the various vegetables. Sarah Wildor was a very elegant carrot. The other individuals weren’t always too visible under their costumes - my commiserations to a monstrously padded giant aubergine (which might have been Abegglen) who seemed determined to steal the show. These costumes (pea, cabbage, sweetcorn etc.) were very beautifully made .....but why ?

Act I is very hard work for all the dancers. Mukhamedov doesn’t have the virtuosity he possessed when this was first made, and though he can pull off some of the more daring stunts, it takes visible effort. Shi-Ning Liu took over Kumakawa’s original role as the Apprentice on what must have been relatively short notice, and turned in a very creditable performance, one of the best things I’ve seen him do. He seemed unfazed by the technical demands of the role, and seemed to be visibly enjoying himself while being much less over the top than Mukhamedov.

Act II is cool, white and calm, accompanied only by piano, not full orchestra. Debbie Bull appeared slightly hesitant at first, but her confidence grew. The quartet in this act was Yoshida (with Whitehead) and Galeazzi (with Howells). It’s interesting to see Yoshida in something more modern - she is perfectly competent as ever, and managed to give some of the steps a dignity they did not really possess. Although this is meant to be an idealised world, Tharp can’t keep to a classical scheme or a straight face for long: at one point I thought they were all about to start jiving. This section needs cutting : there are some good ideas but they are overstretched. Compare this with another ‘white’ work Tharp made on her own dancers (Sweet Fields, shown at the Barbican this summer) and you see the difference: on her own dancers, Tharp works with much greater precision, more concentrated thought, a tighter and more disciplined dance vocabulary. Mr WW looks thrown together by contrast, a mish mash of styles to go with the mish mash of music.

The final act brought Bull and Mukhamedov together at last for a pas de deux, which was nicely executed, Bull seemingly emboldened by careful partnering. The plot, in so far as there is one, took a few odd turns after this, with Mukhamedov having to do his dark night of the soul thing. Of course he does do this very well, but I think I was beginning to tire of the whole thing by now - and then the dancing nuns came back again. It’s remarkable, writing this just a few days later, just how unmemorable some of the choreography is. The ending is again one of those ideas which sounds better than it looks - Rossini runs offstage pursuing his ideal vision, leaving the Apprentice to take up his role. In practice this fell rather flat. Having said all that, the audience responded with real warmth: Mukhamedov is still clearly much loved, Liu got a big cheer, and Bull as well. I couldn’t help thinking that the applause was for the performers more than for the work.