How ‘bickering’ Royal Ballet stars fell from grace

THE dancers of the Royal Ballet are considered to be among the very best in the world.

But when choreographer David Dawson’s latest work at Covent Garden drew poor reviews, those dancers found themselves at the centre of an extraordinary public attack.

An online commenter purporting to be Dawson’s choreographic assistant, Tim Couchman, said the failure of the production was down to the Royal Ballet stars with their “inflated” egos, refusal to practise and non-stop moaning behind the scenes. So bad was their behaviour, the comments suggested, they were “shrunken with shame”. For his part, Dawson, pictured inset right, said in a tweet – since deleted – that he would be taking his work elsewhere because he was so furious about the reviews.

“London critics can be delighted to know that I have decided not to show my work any longer if I can help it,” he wrote. The tweet ended with the hashtag #respectgoesbothways.

Dawson is acclaimed in Europe and was the first British choreographer to create a new work for the Mariinsky Ballet. He trained at the Royal Ballet School, as did Couchman, who helps to stage Dawson’s works around the world. The production in question, The Human Seasons, was first staged in 2013 and is currently part of a triple bill. The other two works, from different choreographers, were well-received.

The principal dancers and soloists taking part include some of the Royal Ballet’s star names: Marianela Nūñez, Lauren Cuthbertson, Claire Calvert, Sarah Lamb and Eric Underwood.

The harshest review was on The Arts Desk website, which said: “Everything that is vapid and dreadful about contemporary ballet is present and correct.” The vitriolic response calling into question the dancers’ professionalism was submitted beneath the article at midnight under the name of Tim Couch- man, although the author could not be verified. Dawson later issued a conciliatory statement addressed to the dancers and the company’s director, Kevin O’Hare. “Dear dancers of the Royal Ballet, Kevin O’Hare and all his team at Covent Garden,” it read. “I would like you to know that you have my greatest admiration and respect. It has been a true honour and a privilege to work with you and to share the stage with the superb Crystal Pite and Christopher Wheeldon [the other choreographers in the triple bill]. “Thank you for your art.” Couchman could not be reached for comment.