Northern Ballet Three Short Ballets Review
October 1, 2026 | Royal Ballet and Opera – London, England
The curtain rose on Act I of Northern Ballet‘s Three Short Ballets evening revealing an attractive central tableau of four intertwined female dancers wearing different shades of pastel-coloured lyrical dresses.
They were quickly joined by four male dancers in classical partnering that swept us into this swift and musically intricate work that saw dancers exiting and entering the stage with seamless energy and speed.
Grandes Études choreographed by Tiler Peck, is fresh, bright and a thoroughly impressive opening to the evening. The four couples showed such pleasing depth in their rapport with one another… and the audience. Narratives passed continuously between them for us to guess at, exploding with character, with beautifully engaging and satisfyingly innovative lifts; a mix of soft and tender touch, playful youthfulness, and sharp and dynamic action.
Particularly striking was the capturing of many nuances and highlights in the music, played live on the piano by Rose McLachlan.
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Northern Ballet Three Short Ballets Review
Act II brought a different flavour in this mixed triple bill tonight, with a revival of 5 Tangos by Hans van Manen. A fusion of classical ballet and Argentine tango, the curtain swept open on two bold lines of male and female dancers opposite one another.
Male dancers in black shirts and trousers and females in black dresses with red underskirt, they began immediately; classical partner-work with a very watchable and slick atmospheric infusion of tango lines, eyelines, partner holds and stylised movement.
The score was sharp and angular to begin with; it moved a lot and this lively, joyful company entertained with commitment through every second.
An underlying pulse brought a more somber tone, calm and powerful, as six male dancers moved in unison around a stationary female. Later they moved into a brighter more rhythmically complex section, and a male duet evolved into a sultry quartet with a steady baseline as they were joined by two females.
It was pleasing to have these different tango flavours threaded through the contrasting compositions in this incredibly watchable piece, originally set in 1977.
Act III took us to South Africa and to Fools, a version of the classic Romeo and Juliet storyline, featuring a young couple from feuding families, which ends in tragedy.
Based on the 1976 novel Hill of Fools by R.L. Peteni and choreographed by Mthuthuzeli November, originally in 2024, the emotional piece began with an old-fashioned radio spotlighted and a voiceover introducing the narrative.
The love story between the young couple commenced, and we saw lively camaraderie within the two groups, helpfully separated by one family dressed in casual shades of green and the other in shades of blue.
There was a smoking fire pit and a telegraph wire post used in choreography and to highlight the two main characters, danced by Sarah Chun and Harris Beattie.
The pair were a delight to watch in their sweet love duet, cajoling playfulness, with a beautiful sense of flow and happiness emanating from them.
Several times Beattie held his hands against Chun’s stomach, suggesting more of the story as yet untold, beautifully inventive choreography between these well-matched dancers.
Of course, they were interrupted, pulled apart as tensions began to build. The imaginative contemporary vocabulary was used to great effect to storytell and to move the action on.
Danger lurked in the underlying musical beat and I enjoyed the expression of emotions that built through individual dancers as well as through supporting dancers dynamics among the simple scenery.
Although the tragic end was expected, the aggression and hatred that built fast and furiously was unsettlingly powerful. Men with sticks and women with brushes presented effective stage fighting with bubbling danger and unrest. The end was deeply saddening.
Perhaps the programme ordering could have been worked more successfully to lift its audience’s spirits at the end. Fools is a very intense work, and the company incredibly talented, but I ultimately felt low, leaving the theatre with a heavy heart in spite of a very impressive evening.
Featured Photo of Northern Ballet‘s Saeka Shirai, Archie Sherman, and Bruno Serraclara in Tiler Peck’s Grandes Études. Photo by Colleen Mair.
