Tamara Rojo’s triumphant tenure at English National Ballet ends later this year – she’s off to shake things up in San Francisco. Her last hurrah – and her directing and choreographing debut – reboots a neglected classic. Raymonda (1898) was a late work by Marius Petipa, the genius choreographer behind Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Despite a sumptuous score, it was sunk by a shonky plot.
Rojo transports the tale from the crusades to the Crimean War, restoring the original choreography alongside other Petipa gems and linking passages of her own. She also gives the passive heroine a spine and a vocation, making Raymonda resemble Florence Nightingale and giving her more than romance to worry about.
