Northern Ballet’s new show is both progressive and conventional. Progressive because this could be the first lesbian love story in a major ballet. It is based on the life of Anne Lister, the 19th-century Yorkshire landowner also known as Gentleman Jack. Conventional because, in terms of form, choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa keeps a tight handle on narrative and plays into what ballet dancers can do – the long arabesques and fluency of motion. It’s an accessible, stylish production that happens to put the love between two women (three, actually) centre stage.
Gemma Coutts plays Lister in top hat, frock coat and flat ballet shoes. Like the choreography, she is strong and straightforward. She has a cocky motif, a flick of the hip and the leg, that brims with self-confidence. She raps her cane on the floor and men fall in line. But we also see her romantic side. There’s an erotically charged pas de deux on a dining table with her great love Mariana (Saeka Shirai). It’s not X-rated but has real heat and tenderness and desire. Lister holds up the bell she uses for bossing her staff around and weaves it around Mariana’s body without touching her: Mariana shivers. She brushes it down Mariana’s spine. This is some of the sexiest choreography I’ve seen in a while.
