How does one review any gala, never mind one as prestigious as this latest iteration of Ballet Icons without it turning into a list of goodies… sixteen numbers, including five premières, thirty-two dancers of the highest calibre from the Royal Ballet, Berlin State Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, La Scala, Paris Opera Ballet, ABT and freelancers.
A delicious mix of traditional classical gala fare with contemporary to leaven the ingredients or bring variety to a luxury chocolate box assortment: there’s something for everyone’s taste. Accompanied by the English National Ballet Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maria Seletskaja, though they do get a break when some pieces require recorded music.
And don't get me started on the music… from Tchaikovsky, Delibes, Adam, Auber, Pugni, Minkus and Stravinsky to Blondie, Philip Glass, Max Richter and Mthuthuzeli November. You get the picture. Dazzling pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Laurencia, Diana and Acteon, Rubies (Jewels), Giselle, Don Quixote, which rounds off the evening with pyrotechnics (one hand lifts from him and fabulous bourrées from her) from Maia Makhateli and Timothy van Poucke of Dutch National Balelet.
There are fouettés galore, incredible manèges, spins, corkscrew and barrel turns. All duets except for one contemporary trio, A Stranding, from choreographers and dancers Travis Clausen-Knight and James Pett dancing with Marie-Agnès Gillot, formerly of Paris Opera Ballet—I think Jules et Jim, but apparently the clue is in the name—it’s on a beach watching the sea flow.
Lucía Lacarra and Matthew Golding’s duet, Fordlândia, is also about the sea that separates. Choreographed by Juanjo Arqués during lockdown, missing one’s partner, the stage image of a sail that becomes the waves under foot is mirrored in its backcloth film. Golding sits on a chair facing the sea like King Canute.
Love, of course, in many forms, is the driving force of much of ballet’s content, and Mthuthuzeli November’s Thando means just that. Anna Tsygankova and Giorgi Potskhishvili (both Dutch National Ballet) give good couple dynamic.
Couple conflict raises its head in Mara Galeazzi’s Toujours (again the title speaks for itself, possibly with some irony) danced with fearlessness on her part with Jason Kittelberger. I think this could be one for him and his real life partner Natalia Osipova. Another explicit title, Once I had a Love, to Blondie and Glass, from Sebastian Kloborg, partnering Maria Kochetkova, flows with the ups and downs of the yearning music. The lifts are unusual. I love its freshness.
I adore them all, but at that standard (and Marianela Núñez, partnered by William Bracewell, does set the standard with her stately Sleeping Beauty which opens proceedings) they demand intense concentration. What a joy to see so many talents gathered together in one place. Must be a logistical nightmare.
So many outstanding dancers, all doing their party tricks that they have trained long and hard for. One that stands out for me is António Casalinho, winner of classical and contemporary Prix de Lausanne first prizes in 2021, in Vaganova and Chabukiani’s Diana and Acteon with Margarita Fernandes, both of Bavarian State Ballet.
Dutch National Ballet’s Giorgi Potskhishvili shows his elevation and double cabrioles bravado strengths in two pieces—Thando and Laurencia (with the Royal Ballet’s Mayara Magri, also partnering Matthew Ball in his To & Fro). I remember seeing the full ballet of the latter for the first time here in 2013 and the incredible ballon of Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev.
Shale Wagman displays his ballon (he sits in the air like Nijinsky) in Le Corsaire, dancing with Inès McIntosh (secure fouettés), both with Paris Opera Ballet. They get loud cheers. Though the audience cheers almost throughout. A good atmosphere for these high-class ‘circus’ turns.
Another secure dancer, unhurried in José Martinez’s Delibes Suite, is Iana Salenko, partnered by David Motta Soares (both Berlin State Ballet). And the music is delightful. As are La Scala’s Nicoletta Manni (confident balances) and Timofej Andrijashenko in Grand Pas Classique; Royal Ballet’s Reece Clarke and ABT’s Chloe Misseldine in Giselle, taking it at a glacial pace; and Maria Kochetkova and Osiel Gouneo bringing some Balanchine pizazz to the evening.
A feast—and apologies if I’ve left anyone out—but before I go, I must mention creative director Rafael Porzycki, set designer Nina Kobiashvili and lighting designer Andrew Ellis. I must say they have got slicker over the years.