Continuing to push boundaries and take risks, the latest instalment of the Ballet Nights series is highly eclectic, thus more or less ensuring there is at least something for almost everyone to enjoy. Focusing on solo and duet performances, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster ride, with plenty to upset ballet purists, which this concept seems to revel in. For instance, the show has sufficient pulling power to draw in principals from the Royal Ballet, though their dances are performed to backing tracks rather than live musicians. This simply is a trade-off that must be accepted, with the audience being able to see, even from the back row, dances performed up close.
The ones and twos, as I ended up calling the dance pieces, are a mixture of performances seen many times before (including some performed previously at Ballet Nights itself) as well as some newer works. I was intrigued by a solo from ‘Seven Portraits’, which was originally called ‘Lockdown Portraits’, choreographed by Sir Robert Cohan (1925-2021), and performed by Laurel Dalley Smith. There was something very ‘lockdown’ about it, with a forest creature being extremely wary, looking about in every direction before carrying on their journey, alone and with trepidation.
At the other end of the scale was a varied and confident dance from Guy Salim, currently in the international touring cast of Stomp. He’s also been in productions of Cats, The Choir of Man and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Here, his tap dance was unaccompanied, the taps providing a rhythm of their own. The pace kept changing, speeding and slowing at various points, which I thought was a refreshing departure from the kind of dance that takes a while to get going but builds to an almighty crescendo.
Joshua Junker’s 324a (he apparently lived at 324A when he devised the piece) was written in the context of the challenges of working with limited means of collaboration during public health restrictions at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, though Felicity Chadwick’s performance came across to me as comfortable and unrestrained rather than full of angst or uncertainty. At least we could see all of it, which is more than can be said for Nerve Wire by James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight, where the lighting was so dim in places that they, and therefore whatever they were doing, was barely visible. There may well be a narrative reason for it, something along the lines of continuing to work hard even when nobody can see what you’re up to, but I was left more than a little bemused by it.
Two dances performed by Chloe Keneally, one in each half, were very elegant, with ‘Aurora’ from the third act of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty demonstrating how a dance can impress an audience without necessarily spinning around at the speed of a washing machine. Cydney Watson and Liam Woodvine (she’s from Sussex, he’s from Barbados), who have apparently never performed together in front of a paying audience before, showed a close dependability on one another in an exquisitely timed dance that was captivating to witness.
Yasmine Naghdi and Reece Clarke, meanwhile, performed as wonderfully as one might reasonably expect, given they were introduced as principal dancers from the Royal Ballet. But the beauty of seeing them do their thing in a studio theatre is that their performances can be enjoyed in a very different way to how they would be at Covent Garden. There’s no set, chorus, ensemble or orchestra to speak of – just a couple of dancers, with the entire audience’s attention solely focused on them. I would imagine this would be both thrilling and maybe a tad terrifying – every footstep and every sharp intake of breath is heard by everyone in the room. All in all, it was a diverse and dynamic night out.
Review by Chris Omaweng
BALLET NIGHTS returns for an unmissable new programme on February 23rd and 24th at Lanterns Studio Theatre in east London. Headlined by Royal Ballet principal dancers Yasmine Naghdi & Reece Clarke, the February programme also features modern masterpieces, classic works, live music, and emerging artists.
Both evenings will be compèred by Ballet Nights producer Jamiel Devernay-Laurence.
February 23rd & 24th at 7.30pm
Lanterns Studio Theatre, Unit D. Great Eastern Enterprise, 3 Millharbour, London E14 9XP
Travel: DLR/South Quays
Tube/Canary Wharf
https://www.balletnights.com/
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