Royal Ballet and London Children’s Ballet: an elegant contrast

  London Children’s Ballet photo: Johan Persson

La Fille Mal Gardee

Royal Ballet

Thursday 23 April, Royal Opera House

In The Royal Ballet’s ‘La Fille Mal Gardee’ Natalia Osipova was a delightfully convincing Lise, the wayward daughter who continually tricks her mother in order to flirt with her beau (an equally mischievous Steven Macrae). The whole cast danced with wit and aplomb and superb comic timing, all of which were essential to compensate for a plot wispier than an ear of corn. Add a pantomime dame, a clownish suitor, a beautiful white pony, clever dancing with ribbons and youthful exuberance and there you have it: a charmed audience going home smiling.

Snow White London Children’s Ballet Saturday 25 April, Peacock Theatre London Children’s Ballet’s dramatic Snow White provided an elegant contrast: whereas in La Fille Mal Gardee nearly all the cast were acting as young teens, in Snow White the children and young teens were behaving in a very adult way to successfully deliver their performance. Poise, dedication and discipline shone through in every age group, from as young as nine. The standard never dropped as a cast of 55 brought the much loved fairytale to life with a special charm that only children can convey. Yet another triumph for London Children’s Ballet’s annual production, memorably choreographed this year by Jenna Lee.

Take a Bow Wow: Royal Ballet : Natalia Osipova as Lise,  Steven McRae as Colas her lover, Paul Kay as Alain her suitor, Peregrine the pony.

London Children’s Ballet : Sophie Searle and Cleo Badcock as Snow White, James Lovell as The Prince, Georgia Dumont as the Evil Queen, the delightful Seven Dwarves.

Royal Ballet Triple Bill: three gems, no golden thread

WOOF (canine speak for WOW) Factor: 7.5 out of 10

Take a Bow Wow’ (Molli’s prize for Best in Show): Steven McRae as Oberon in The Dream; The set in Connectome; Teamwork of the cast in The Concert.

When watching a ballet triple bill I often feel satisfied that the whole programme has equalled, or exceeded, the sum of its parts.

Not so with the Royal Ballet’s triple programme – Ashton’s The Dream, Marriott’s brand new Connectome, and Robbins’ comic old favourite The Concert.

Each ballet in itself was a gem; but put the three together and I got a collection of precious stones, not a stunning piece of jewellery, and so was left vaguely dissatisfied.

I felt a bit like Bottom when he wakes up in The Dream: a fantastic, magical experience but why? Why put these three ballets together which were so different from each other there was a sense of disconnect?

The Dream, a stalwart of The Royal Ballet’s repertoire for 50 years, was set in a mystical forest perfect for the fairies to frolic their way through Ashton’s portrayal of Shakespeare’s play. Unusually, it was the men who were lighter on their feet than the women, with Steven McRae’s Oberon and Paul Kay as Puck creating and maintaining an ethereal lightness with their whole bodies, an effect I sought with all the fairies but didn’t always find. Titania danced with the charm of a very young girl, finally growing up in a splendid pas de deux with Oberon in spite of her long, blonde, distractingly ‘Alice in Wonderland’ wig.

Bennet Gartside as Bottom the ass got the charming donkey movements just right, making him loveable to the audience as well as Titania. And the four lovers added much fun and vigour to the piece as their beautifully timed reactions to each other became increasingly hilarious after Puck’s love potion matched up the wrong pairs. A worthy 50 year souvenir edition.

Marriott’s new ballet Connectome explores how our brains become wired to form our behaviours and personalities. A great concept for modern dance and this production was very impressive. The brilliant silver rods rising and falling above the stage stole the show, looking spectacular. Second place, equally, went to the lighting effects and to the dancers. All seven characters, including leads Natalia Osipova, Steven McRae and Edward Watson, danced their hearts out. It may have been the desired effect, given that the dance was about the power of the brain, but the choreography didn’t allow them to stand out enough and they remained overshadowed by the set. Bland white underwear costume ensured they remained subordinate to the special effects.

The Concert, set to piano music by Chopin, was a laugh and gave the cast the opportunity to indulge in some light hearted music hall capers while showing off their acting abilities. The comic personalities dazzled with their mime as well as their dancing. Getting it wrong was a big theme. There was much hilarity when the ballet dancers couldn’t keep in time to the music but it must have been a big effort to incorporate comic mistiming and misjudgements into their dancing, which they, and indeed the whole cast, managed with great aplomb.

Three gems, no stunning piece of jewellery, as there was no golden thread to connect this lovely trio.