It’s rare to see the Royal Ballet outside their Covent Garden base, so it’s a coup for Doncaster to host a show by some of the best dancers in the UK (which comes in tandem with education projects in the city). Rather than lay on a big Swan Lake or similar, they’ve opted for a gala of more than a dozen short works. There are pros and cons to the format but overall it’s a good call, showing the huge span of what a 21st-century ballet company does, from soloist Mariko Sasaki nailing the fouettés in classical showpiece Le Corsaire to Nadia Mullova-Barley comically making balloon models in Kristen McNally’s To Be Thought of Fondly.
A highlight is the arresting simplicity of Ben Stevenson’s Prelude, with a sensitive and meticulous Melissa Hamilton, and there’s a triumphant moment for local girl Charlotte Tonkinson, dancing the second act pas de deux from Swan Lake, approaching each step as if it were a precious object. The format means a lot of pas de deux, including one from Angelin Preljocaj’s Le Parc that doesn’t quite catch alight. What could be a gradual swell towards ecstasy, culminating in a kiss with the woman swung in circles still attached at the lips, lacks electricity and vulnerability between Yasmine Naghdi and Reece Clarke. Most interesting is a confident and stylish piece by young company dancer Joshua Junker, set to Elvis songs, featuring a duo for the very simpatico pairing of Lukas Braendsrød and Liam Boswell that has the light-footed prowl of a couple of big cats.
