The Royal Ballet Sinfonia
conducted by
Paul Murphy
Music
Winter Dreams -
Farewell pas de deux
Tchaikovsky
A Buenos Aires -
Astor Piazzolla
Vespers -
Nisi Dominus
Monteverdi
Le Cid -
Majisimo
Massenet
Guest artists from
The Royal Ballet
Zenaida Yanowsky
Sarah Lamb
Rupert Pennefather
Marianela Nunez
Jose Martin
Mara Galeazzi
Thiago Soares
Caroline Duprot
Samantha Raine
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Carlos Acosta
Sadler's Wells
18 - 23 July 2006
In the first volume of his autobiography, "Another Part of the Wood", art historian Kenneth "Civilisation" Clarke said that he was an enthusiast for pictures, not a connoisseur, because whereas the latter admires very few things, scorning the rest as not meeting his exigent criteria of excellence, the former finds enjoyment everywhere. Providing this remark is not taken to imply the forfeiture of standards, it is a good saying: it encourages to embrace the good to be found across the range, and to take pleasure in it.
The aptness of Clarke's saying is illustrated by this dance variety evening laid on by Carlos Acosta and a troupe of gifted friends from the Royal Ballet, giving us some delightful moments from the standard and not-so-standard repertoire: Fokine's dying swan, the second act pas de deux from La Sylphide, Vaganova's Diana and Actaeon pas de deux, reminiscences of tango and Gauloise-wreathed Paris night-clubs. Connoisseurs of course will have ground the edges off their teeth by the interval, but enthusiasts of the dance will have had a very pleasant evening, not only because of the intrinsic merits of the showcase solos and pas de deux chosen by Acosta, but because they allow the fine performers in his ad hoc company to display some exquisite talent.
For Acosta himself, Zenaida Yanowsky, Marianela Nunez, Sarah Lamb, Mara Galeazzi, Rupert Pennefather, Jose Martin, and Thiago Soares constitute a major constellation of stars. The first two open the evening with Ballanchine's Agon pas de deux, and thereby set a high standard of poise, strength, beauty of line and athleticism which each succeeding act enjoys matching. Rupert Pennefather clutches futilely at the wonderfully ghostly Sarah Lamb in the La Sylphide pas de deux, while Yanowsky in a miracle of fluidity and nuance provides a case study in Fokine's art as his dying swan.
The transcendent Marianela Nunez almost steals the evening, first with Acosta in Vaganova's Diana and Actaeon pas de deux, and then with Thiago Soares in a steamy tango rendition of Gustavo Mollajoli's A Buenos Aires. She does not quite get away with it because Acosta in the first of these two displays some utterly stunning athleticism which, as with everything Nunez does too, is instinct with artistry as well as technical accomplishment.
The bistro theme started by the tango-esque pas de deux is continued in the delightful Sarah Lamb performance of Ben van Cauwenbergh's solo to the song made famous by Edith Piaf, Je Ne Regrette Rien. This, together with two other short pieces, Les Bourgeois also by Ben van Cauwenbergh and Margot and Rudy choreographed by Liam Scarlett, are UK premieres, and impressive debuts they are. The latter, to a Rachmaninov piano solo, is a memoir of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, speakingly danced by Mara Galeazzi and Rupert Pennefather. Acosta dances the inebriate Les Bourgeois solo with wit and superb acting skill, an entertainingly funny display.
The evening ends with a spirited and rousing ensemble attack on Georges Garcia's Majisimo, an appropriately Cuban explosion of high spirits and high art. Collectively and individually the performances are outstanding, and vividly express the joy both of the dance itself and of the experience of dancing; one is made to feel that the ad hoc cast put this on because they wished to go through their paces, as if restless at not to being able to do so. The conceit of the evening is that it is a rehearsal, with the troupe appearing in rehearsal kit, stretching and limbering as they unpack their hold-alls, the evening ending in the same way with performers putting their warmers back on and leaving the stage in satisfied tiredness.
It is an evening of pure pleasure: great dance, great dancers, great entertainment, relaxed, a time-out experience of the first rank. AC Grayling
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