The Royal Ballet Mixed Repertory Review
June 9, 2023 | The Royal Opera House – London, England, UK
Staging a new ballet is always a gamble, but Wayne McGregor is a safe bet.
Last night, Royal Ballet resident choreographer McGregor debuted his latest work – Untitled, 2023 – at the Royal Opera House in London, kicking off the company’s final triple bill of the season. Untitled is the 20th ballet McGregor has set on the company.
The Royal Ballet Mixed Repertory Review
Leading up to the show, curiously little was known about McGregor’s new one-act ballet, except that it was inspired by the untitled artworks of the late Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera whose work has been defined by geometric abstraction and minimalism.
Specifically, Untitled engages with Herrera’s most prominent “Blanco y Verde” series that she created between 1959 and 1971.
The work opens in an unconventional (and thereby McGregor-esque) fashion with the dancing coming before the music. The curtain rises to reveal a spare stage with a lone dancer moving amidst the shadows. Eventually, however, the orchestra joins in with an equally eccentric score by Anna Thorvaldsdottir that, albeit headily chaotic, evolves into an arresting arrangement of eclectic textures and rhythms that sustains a sense of suspense all the way through. The unique structure is perhaps a tribute to Herrera’s relatively belated recognition.
Known for a vocabulary of abstract geometrism, McGregor is perhaps the best choice to translate Herrera’s work to the stage.
With first soloist Joseph Sissens leading the charge, Untitled unfolds into an orbiting series of intertwining voluptuous curves, fractured angles, and dramatic extensions that showcases the company at its best.
The cast is comprised of 19 dancers who, from my seat in the slips, were for the most part difficult to discern. The ones that did stand out for their archetypal performances (and my growing familiarity with the company), however, were Leo Dixon, Fumi Kaneko, Harris Bell, and Melissa Hamilton.
Individually, each dancer was fantastic. Together, they were brilliant. The expressionless dancers appeared impulse-driven, endowing the rare yet exhilarating ensemble moments with a pride-like quality.
Even more rare were moments of synchrony which made them all the more poignant and powerful. Just when you think you can anticipate what comes next, the choreography defies all expectations and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Apart from the sleek and minimalist costumes designed by Burberry’s Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee, one of the more striking structural elements of McGregor’s latest work was the expert use of light (designed by Lucy Carter).
When the dancers come together, the cast shadows morph into something in and of themselves. In a way, they create an illusion that there is another figure on the stage. Although, as a product of several interlacing limbs and torsos, perhaps “creature” is a more apt description.
On the whole, the work was very well-received by its inaugural audience. Attending to the much-deserved thunderous applause, the cast took so many final bows that I lost count.
I may have been concerned for whatever would follow Untitled, except that it was a tried and tested work by resident choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.
Up next in the program was Wheeldon’s Corybantic Games which has been the subject of much critical acclaim since it premiered in 2018. The work, set to Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade after Plato: Symposium, is divided into five distinct yet coherent movements that cleverly ride the score’s shifting energies.
The costumes, designed by Erdem Moralioglu, are redolent of ancient Greek drapery but with a striking avant-garde edge.
The title of Wheeldon’s work alludes to the frenzied and opulent dances of the ancient Cybelic cult and, as the title implies, it is on the whole upbeat - a welcome reprieve following McGregor’s more moody Untitled.
Wheeldon’s choreography is arguably less distant from the classicized canon than McGregor’s, but it is still inventive. Acutely attentive to Bernstein’s virtuous score, the choreography seamlessly modulates between languid and contemplative and kinetic and bombastic.
Peppered throughout are allusions to Greek friezes and decorative motifs, such as the meander. At times, there are also perceptible echoes of Balanchine’s Serenade or Apollo.
Although the entire cast was dancing at the top of their games last night, principal dancer Mayara Magri gave a particularly stunning performance in the fifth movement with all the polish and prowess of an Amazonian goddess. As much was made clear by the audience’s rapturous reception at curtain call.
The program concluded with Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Anastasia Act III. The ballet in full is inspired by the true story of a woman, Anna Anderson, who believed she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov.
Although titled Act III, this excerpt was originally set by MacMillan as a one-act ballet and thereby stands well enough alone… in theory anyway. Even with a vague understanding of the plot (thank you, Disney), I found the storyline a bit ambiguous. What was clear, however, was the impeccable casting.
The titular character, “the woman who believes she is Anastasia,” is danced by principal dancer Laura Morera who dazzles the audience with a gut-wrenching, emotionally uninhibited portrayal of mental anguish.
Principal dancer Ryoichi Hirano took on the role of the villainous Rasputin with a terrifyingly unanimated vigor.
The rest of the cast delivered equally fine-tuned performances.
When Anastasia Act III was first staged in 1971, it received raving reviews. Today, or at least as part of this mixed program, I found it underwhelming. The use of projections was uninventive, and the composition of costuming, choreography, and score felt a bit disjointed.
I will say, however, that I don’t believe this comes at the fault of the dancers, orchestra, or artistic team who took on the charge to re-stage this work. It is rather more so the fact that MacMillan’s once innovative choices are less revolutionary in the contemporary dance environment.
Featured Photo for this The Royal Ballet Mixed Repertory review of Artists of The Royal Ballet in Untitled 2023, The Royal Ballet ©2023 Alice Pennefather.
