Theatre Review: London City Ballet Resurgence, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham
Rating: ★★★★
Running Dates: Friday 2nd August - Saturday 3rd August 2024
Where to see it: Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes (including interval)
Keywords: Modern, Elegant & Captivating
It’s modern, it’s fresh and captivating. If you get the chance I wouldn't miss it!
London City Ballet is back with a beautiful tour after following a 30-year hiatus and it was a privilege to see! It begins with a background story of the struggles London City ballet did experience over decades with hints of nostalgia from how traditional ballet began and during the hardship how Diana, Princess of Wales supported them knowing how important ballet was to the dancers and the audience. As Agnes De Mille said ‘To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking. ‘
The programme starts with a choreography by Ashley Page that, almost like an apprenticeship piece, lays before us the skills and talents of five pairs of dancers in the Larina Waltz, from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. It then moves onto the next performance Ballade from Kenneth Macmillan’s. The set is beautifully simplistic but elegant as an all in white display with a white table and four white chairs, four dancers one female and three male who go through the courtship and seduction to gain the attention of the women.
We’re followed by the next show, the Five Dances, by Arielle Smith to music by John Adams. We move into the realm of pure meta dance and to me abstraction and not knowing the next move. It felt modern and freeing and each piece was independent, telling us how the ability of dance helps us understand without knowing. The suite of dances are like a simple piece of cut glass which rings with the clarity of perfection when pinged with a finger.
The final dance, Eve, by Christopher Marney, brings us back into familiar territory as Eve (Kate Lyons) is seduced by the Serpent (Álvaro Madrigal). Set to music by Jennie Muskett this is a foundational dance. Having destroyed the original creation in the act of succumbing to the devil, Eve must start again. And so we are taken on a journey of rebirth, both of mankind and nature. It is an ambitious piece which achieves much in its relatively short time.
The everyman theatre itself was a perfect venue to show the importance and sophistication of the London City Ballets and to the comeback they’re making throughout their tour. It isn't what I was expecting but for all the right reasons! It’s modern, it’s fresh and captivating. If you get the chance I wouldn't miss it!
Standout Quote or Moment: The interaction between the last dance ‘Eve’ and the graphics on the projector.
Similar Plays: Sleeping Beauty
Last Impression: Five Dances by Arielle Smit
To get tickets for shows at the Cheltenham Theatre click here
We were kindly gifted these tickets in exchange for a review.
Written by Ella Hunter