This gala night was not the diamond anniversary of the Royal Ballet company but of its supporters’ association – more essential than ever in times of shrinking Arts Council England grants. It’s a celebratory pick ’n’ mix of old and new, with four fresh commissions plus a company premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s For Four, from 2006.
These gala programmes are tricky. You pluck a pas de deux out of a full-length ballet – in this case Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée and Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling – and they lose their context and character to become pretty dancing, without the humour or torment, respectively, of the full ballets. But for a fan it’s like hearing a familiar chorus.
Of the nine pieces on the bill, the Wheeldon and a new duet by US choreographer Pam Tanowitz are the stand-outs. For Four opens with four men in silhouette. It’s a gradual crescendo of virtuosity, without ever being an ego show, the dancers just delighted to be skimming across the floor to Schubert. Marcelino Sambé gets to leap his heart out, Matthew Ball attacks the steps with relish, they lock eyes and share a smile.
Tanowitz’s Dispatch Duet is a more thoughtful, curious confection. Her shapes clearly inspired by Merce Cunningham, finding pleasure in precision, there’s something very deliberate about every choice. The conversation between dancers – William Bracewell and Anna-Rose O’Sullivan – moves in unexpected ways but somehow with its own logic. Bracewell brings humanity to everything he dances, even when it’s as dry, geometrically, as this. There are subtle nods to the history of ballets seen on this stage, and arresting moments, such as when the dense soundclash of composer Ted Hearne’s music falls away and leaves O’Sullivan in silence unfolding a leg in développé, making you look, really look, at something we’ve seen on stage a million times.
Admirable, but less successful is Joseph Toonga’s See Us!! Toonga started out in hip-hop and it’s great to bring classical dancers new vocabularies, rhythms and viewpoints, but it still feels like an experiment at this stage. See Us!! doesn’t get inside its theme of protest in a sophisticated enough way, although central dancer Joseph Sissens is excellent.
Elsewhere, two pas de deux in underwear: one from Wayne McGregor’s Qualia, dancers Melissa Hamilton and Lukas B Brændsrød quietly smouldering in their Calvin Klein-style briefs; sleek, stark and sexy, long legs and thrust hips on display, Hamilton looking very powerful. Whereas Benoit Swan Pouffer’s Concerto Pour Deux mimics the ripple of Natalia Osipova’s satin slip, swirling around partner Steven McRae. There are more swirling skirts in Valentino Zucchetti’s Prima, with colourfully striking dresses by Roksanda Ilinčić – if not totally flattering to the movement. Fumi Kaneko gets the best one, an aubergine maxi with bubblegum pink lining. Prima is a response to Wheeldon’s For Four, this time with four principal women, but they don’t look as if they’re having quite as much fun as the men, and the choreography is not quite as interesting.
The night rounds off aptly with Balanchine’s Diamonds, full of classical restraint, perhaps too restrained to end a long evening, although Marianela Nuñez brings her most regal presence, with innate grace, elegance and gentle authority. She’s a real people’s princess.
The Royal Ballet: A Diamond Celebration screens in cinemas on 20 November.
