The Royal Ballet, Doncaster, 23rd/24th September 2022

[SheilaC]

The Doncaster event turned out to be very successful.

The first performance was preceded by a pre-performance gathering for Friends and attended by Alex Beard and Kevin O'Hare. There were several brief speeches including from the local MP, Ed Miliband, who had inspired the partnership between ROH, the Cast theatre, and Doncaster council to improve access to the arts by children from over 100 schools in Doncaster.

That initiative culminated the next day in a performance by 300 children in an open air version of Alice in Wonderland. The main characters were performed by RB dancers, including Leo Dixon as the Mad Hatter and the ubiquitous Gina Storm-Jensen as the Queen. It was very well coordinated and it was quite moving, especially at the end when  the entire cast moved in unison. 

The programme for the two performances was varied, covering 14 items in all, mostly excerpts. There were two pieces by Ashton (three if the cast sheet is to be believed and he choreographed Corsaire),  pas de deux, Thais and Fille Mal Gardee; three by Wheeldon, Alice, Within the Golden Hour, After the Rain; McGregor, Chroma; two 'classics', pas de deux from Swan Lake and Corsaire; the lovely Prelude by Ben Stevenson, not I think part of RB rep, more associated with ENB;  another popular 20th century piece by Preljocaj, Le Parc, frequently danced by the Paris Opera Ballet; ballets by RB dancers Kristen McNally, Joshua Junker and Steven McRae (his Czardas tap exploit); a piece by Mikaela Polley. 

 

The dancers were equally varied, from Principals to soloists and artists to Aud Jebsen dancers. No less than 15, on my count, had been recently promoted, giving them the chance to extend their performance experience. One, Charlotte Tonkinson, was a Doncaster lass, who has been involved in the initiative, and she was rewarded by having the opportunity to dance Odette, which she did carefully, well partnered by Lukas, to tumultuous applause from her local crowd.

 

The stage is quite small, by Covent Garden standards, so it must have required some adjustment by the dancers, especially for Corsaire. The standard was even better at the second performance, probably due to the greater familiarity with the stage.

 

The programme opened quietly with the serene Prelude, danced by Lukas B.Braendsrod (an unsung star of the show- he was in three pieces) and luminously by Melissa Hamilton, who was especially eloquent in the second show. It ended with exhilarating panache with the explosive tap dance by Steven McRae, sporting a Mayerling style moustache. In between there was a good mix of classical and more modern styles.

 

Steven McRae also danced the second piece, Alice, appropriately given the theme of the schools performance, with Anna Rose O'Sullivan, almost unrecognisable in a black wig. Though well danced the pas de deux lost a bit out of the context of the full ballet. It was a joy to see Ashton in the Thais pas de deux, with Ryoichi Hirano and Sarah Lamb, although I have seen more mystical performances. In Corsaire Mariko Sasaki and Joonhyuk Jun thrilled the audience although other performances I've seen have benefited from the greater experience of star dancers. Fille, with Anna Rose  and Luca Acri (who also danced in the McNally piece) was as joyous as ever. The Chroma excerpt was splendidly danced by Yasmine Naghdi and Marcelino Sambe. He had also danced with Sarah Lamb in Within the Golden Hour, which in addition included a pas de deux more than capably danced by Leo Dixon and Francisco Serrano. Reece Clarke partnered Yasmine Naghdi in Le Parc, the famous whirling round movement better done at the second performance, and After the Rain, with Gina Storm-Jensen, at the first performance but it was cancelled due to injury (details unknown) at the Saturday matinee. The artists danced the more contemporary pieces and those pieces were very well received, dynamic and mostly to more modern music, from Elvis Presley to Max Richter and Mogwai.

 

Although some of the pieces were danced to taped music, it was a bonus that there was live music backing many of the ballets, supplied by pianists Robert Clark and Kate Shipley and Son-Yon Kim on the violin.

 

Altogether, an excellent initiative, levelling up opportunities to see first class ballet in the North. Arts Council, please take note.

[JNC]

Thanks for the review @SheilaC!

 

Interesting to see Le Parc and Prelude selected - no complaints but is it representative of the Royal (but should it/does it need to be)?

 

Good to see support for in house choreographers also and a mix of dancers at various career stages. The inclusion of Fille has me wondering if perhaps it may be on the cards for next year but I don’t want to get over excited!
 

Hope to see more of this type of thing in future (either in London or ideally elsewhere but I don’t see the Royal travelling around the U.K. anytime soon sadly. Although maybe one year instead of doing an overseas summer tour they could do a U.K. one, even if it was with younger dancers rather than principals, those who don’t tend to tour…?)