A trio of MacMillan. And all works I've not seen before. A highly anticipated evening!
Concerto, danced to Shostakovich's beautiful 2nd piano concerto, started things off. This is possibly one of my favourite pieces of music, which was both a good and a bad thing. It was fantastic to see it visualised, made flesh (!), but at the same time, the tempos were all a bit rigid, and too slow for my liking in the first and third movements. The first movement should be garish and circus like, yet with militaristic overtones - puppetry is probably the most obvious theme that comes to mind. Certainly, the orange, yellow and red leatards met the garish criterion, but it still felt too understated. I wanted more angularity, harsher more abrupt movements than were evident. Laura Morera was fab as usual, although Brian Maloney, partnering her, was a little clumsy. The second movement, a pas de deux inspired by a ballerina warming up at the barre, is a stark contrast to the first and third. Dim lights rather than harsh lights, and slow lingering movements. The male dancer is a support, taking the part of the barre, and Ryoichi Hirano was solid, and symmetrical, beautiful echoing Sarah Lamb's sublime movements. This movement was peaceful and really did feel like music in motion. In the third however, Laura McCulloch had a hard task. Following two duos, she really needed to set the stage on fire, particularly after the slow 2nd movement. However, she felt cumbersome and heavy, and this is not the first time I've used those words to describe her dancing. She is a lot taller than her fellow female dancers, and in general bigger built. Which is fine, and sometimes works really well. But this whole dance felt strained - she overreached in her grand jetes, and lacked the radiance she sometimes exudes. However, despite ending on a down note, Concerto was definitely a hit for me.
The Judas Tree, MacMillan's last ballet, packs a punch and that's for sure. MacMillan at his grittiest, it is set in the Isle of Dogs during the regeneration period. Dealing with the concepts of collective guilt and betrayal, the choreography is rough and ready, and this work ends chillingly with a graphic representation of gang rape. Mara Galeazzi and Thiago Soares danced fantastically as the Woman and The Foreman, with Soares probably giving the best performance I've ever seen him give. I'll admit to finding this a pretty shocking ballet - I'm glad I've seen it, but I'm not sure I would be in a hurry to see it again.
Elite Syncopations couldn't be more different to The Judas Tree if it tried. And what a fun way to end the night. If Concerto's costumes were not garish enough, these may have gone too far. They are almost blinding! The band (ragtime music not being exactly orchestral) is on stage, creating a nicely informal atmosphere, even though the stripped down numbers and added distance from the auditorium compromises on volume. I felt like this got off to an unexpectedly slow start - the Sunflower Slow Drag felt a bit scrappy and a bit lacking in energy. Laura Morera was the star of this show as far as I'm concerned - perfect musicality and characterful dancing in the Calliope Rag. Yuhui Choe lacked pizazz and while Marianela Nunez was her usual seamless self (and that definition also extents to her stars-and-stripes catsuit!) she wasn't a patch on Laura. The Alaskan Rag, which turn the normal ballet partnership on it's head (short MALE dancer, tall female) was absolutely hilarious - Nathalie Harrison and Michael Stojko had their timing down to a tee. An extremely enjoyable end to the night, even if I felt it could have had just slightly more energy!
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