Balanchine and Robbins – Royal Opera House, London (LAST CHANCE TO SEE)

A review of Balanchine and Robbins, an evening at the Royal Opera House showcasing American choreographers. A playful and interesting programme.

Tell Me More About Balanchine and Robbins

So, this mixed programme at the Royal Opera House focuses on two American 20th Century choreographers: George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. They did a lot to establish an American ballet style, and to create contemporary choreography for ballet (rather than ‘modern dance’ like we saw by Rambert at Sadler’s Wells). Balanchine was born in 1904 in St Petersburg and trained in ballet and music from childhood. In the 1920s he left the USSR for a ballet tour of Western Europe and was offered a spot in Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Paris. After stints in England and back in Paris, he moved to America in 1933 to found the School of American Ballet, and later the New York City Ballet.

Jerome Robbins was born Jerome Rabinowitz in New York in 1918. The Depression interrupted his education, but he showed a flair for performance and dance from a young age. Robbins worked across a variety of media and industries: ballet of course, but also Broadway shows, film and television. In 1949 he went to work for the New York City Ballet with Balanchine as both dancer and choreographer. He was caught up in McCarthyism in the 1950s but continued to work and enjoy success over the following decades, until shortly before his death in 1998.

The Royal Opera House have chosen three pieces by these two choreographers for their mixed bill. Firstly there is Apollo and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux by Balanchine, followed by Dances at a Gathering by Robbins.

Modern Ballet by American Masters

The works chosen really highlight the freshness and playfulness of both choreographers’ work. I hadn’t read much about Balanchine or Robbins before seeing the performance, but Apollo struck me straight away as having Surrealist qualities, which makes sense with its date of 1928. The set looked a bit like a Dali painting, with a staircase/platform as the only prop, under strong lighting. And there was a quality about the dance itself of striving to be modern yet also classical, that gave me Surrealist vibes. Playing the roles of the young Apollo and the Muses guiding him were Vadim Muntagirov, Yasmine Naghdi, Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Mayara Magri. They were all fab.

Next up was Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. I particularly liked Reece Clarke who I thought danced wonderfully. He was partnered by Natalia Osipova. The piece demanded some real acrobatics from them: at one point Clarke had to catch Osipova as she nose-dived towards the stage. Actually I think the complicated lifts were one of the things that made these choreographers stand out from other ballet I have seen recently. They were very impressive and a real showcase for the physical prowess of the dancers.

And lastly we had Dances at a Gathering by Robbins. This work dates to 1969 and is considered his masterpiece. Dances at a Gathering is brilliant because it’s not about anything other than dance. There is no complicated plot. No love interests really. Just a lot of dancing. Again there is quite a bit of acrobatics, which is impressive to watch. And the piano player must have been exhausted after an hour of Chopin waltzes etc. when there was a whole orchestra accompanying the first two pieces. Brava to her!

Final Thoughts

Something I was pondering as I watched Balanchine and Robbins is how sometimes the cheap seats are the good seats. There were no single seats available when I booked to see this, so I went for a set of two cheap seats. The benefit to being up high in the Amphitheatre is that you get a really good view of the overall effect of the choreography. And in all the works in this mixed bill, part of their modernity is in the shapes. The interesting ways that the dancers move their bodies. And in the bigger picture of how it looks on stage. Perhaps this is the impact on choreography of the golden age of American film?

In any case, I found this a good introduction to some choreographers I was unfamiliar with, and a different style of ballet. It was my third visit to the Royal Opera House since this latest reopening (I also saw a live opera and a hyper-reality opera), so I am very much enjoying their current programme!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

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