Fantastic human creatures
Goes to see ENB’s mixed bill and William Forsythe’s thrilling world premiere
Any doubts that English National Ballet was teetering on the edge of pointe break were put to rest on Thursday night following the opening of its latest programme, which showed the collective on bold form – connected, synchronised and firing on all cylinders.
There were reports last year that the company had been unhappy and unsettled under Tamara Rojo’s directorship. Anonymous complaints from members of the company included accusations of bullying and dancers feeling pressured to work while injured. The turbulent environment led to a third of the company’s dancers leaving in the space of two years, though Rojo has argued that she has always had their well-being and best interests at heart. An Arts Council investigation has since pronounced satisfaction with ENB’s policies and processes and so, with all whisperings put to bed, this US-themed mixed bill, featuring a new piece by choreographer William Forsythe, and the first showing from the company following the allegations, was a strong reminder of what ENB does best.
First came a particularly fine reworking of Fantastic Beings, an abstract ballet by Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton, a protégée of Mikhail Baryshnikov. To the sounds of Mason Bates’s orchestral symphony Anthology of Fantastic Zoology, the 16-strong troupe, dressed in slithery scales with the metallic sheen of fish skin, emerged like a swarm of insects. Dancing en masse, they slowly evolved from lizard-like creatures into ape-like floor-crawlers that were fun, but asked too much of the imagination. If the piece is still far too long, it remains an otherwordly celebration of the possibilities of the human form.
A programme encompassing the very best of American choreographers wouldn’t be complete without a work by Jerome Robbins, best known for West Side Story. His 1951 piece The Cage, set to Stravinsky’s whirling Concerto in D, presents a gang of wild-haired female predators who crawl and contort with feral instinct as they kill and feed on male intruders with explicit sexual pleasure. Jurgita Dronina stood out as The Novice, dancing like a gazelle in a duet with James Streeter before dispatching him between her nutcracker thighs.
Next up was William Forsythe’s Approximate Sonata 2016, a peculiar, witty piece based on a series of intricate pas de deux. Lead principal Joseph Caley, whose turn bookends the act, danced with great personality, while Isaac Hernandez appeared strong and centred during his solo. This ballet is perhaps the weakest on the bill: complex, yes, but hard to love, and the fluorescent costumes are off-putting. But Precious Adams was impressive: a finalist in the Emerging Dancer Award, she showed great poise and precision.
Nevertheless, the audience was Playlist (Tracks 1, 2) really there for Forsythe’s other work – his world premiere of a piece specially made for ENB and the first ballet that the revered American has made in the UK for more than 20 years.
Leaving behind the geometric experiments of Sonata, Playlist (Tracks 1, 2) marks a return to Forsythe’s classical roots, and what an absolute thrill it is too. This infectious pop ballet has a classical precision but boasts a bouncing score of R&B tracks by Lion Babe and Peven Everett. It is teasingly left until the final piece of the evening but absolutely worth the wait. Twelve male dancers speed around the stage performing a virtuosic display of batterie – the rapid beating of the calves together during a leap – and whipsmart jumps and spins. It’s a party piece; this squad were bursting with energy and emitted such jocular merriment that it was hard to stay still in your seat.
This is a mighty crowd-pleaser, and the climax of a cleverly curated programme that proved ENB, far from being knocked by recent events, is full of fight.