LONDON CITY ballet at Arts theatre
Ellie Young and Arthur Henderson
“Exhilarating and Surprising.” just one assessment of last night’s Firebird with four smaller scale ballets. Read on below
Josue Gomez & Simeon Strange by ASH.
From time to time you really must feel lucky to live somewhere where a truly prestigious company performs. The Arts Theatre has enticed one of the most original and celebratory international companies on tour today. City of London Ballet is finally independent. It has emerged Phoenix- like from the shadows into an ambitious imaginative company, dynamic exciting and as far from predictable as you can get. ‘Independence has shaped every aspect of who we are’ declares artistic director Christopher Marney. Their new programme now stretches across the world Europe, Asia and the United States. Next week they are at the Opera House in Rheims (very tricky for dancers as the stage is tilted forewards) but thank the Gods of Art, they are here in Cambridge for two nights only. If you want a real thrill of a night out, with a rare and dazzling cast of dancers on top of their form, dash down to town and book in for the most thrilling entertaining and uplifting experience of, dare I say it, a lifetime.
They began with Mephisto Waltz, a delicious piece of Viennese confection turned by the svelte choreography of maestro Ashley Page into a complex tangle of waltz and athletic expression – a joy to watch – and all danced to the music of Johan Strauss 11 `9 Mephisto Hollenufe- Waltz 101. Whimsical nostalgia meets modern balletic moves.
Aaron Copeland’s ‘Quiet City’ a work composed in memory of dancer Joseph Duell who died in 1986 aged 30, a sombre thoughtful composition brought to Ballet by Jerome Robbins an impresario of dance innovation. All sensitively rendered by dancers sure of their steps
The Firebird music by Stravinsky was the entire second half and the apogee of the evening. In an after-talk the dancers spoke of their admiration for its story telling – and Arthur Henderson described how much he preferred a ballet with a narrative. Ellie also on stage for after-performance Q and A explained how their training and the story-based style helped remember their steps. Quite a surprise to learn an entire ballet took only two or so weeks to put together – through a combination of disciplined training and a sharp memory. Who knew? And yet that is clearly to overlook the years of intensive physical training the dancers go through. For The Cambridge Critique I asked them how they managed to make such a flawless beautiful experience appear so smooth. - given the energy it demands.Christopher Marney quipped it was like watching a swan “it glides along serenely - but the string legs below are going at a furious pace” . And Arthur Henderson - a dancer still wreathed in sweat from his exertions- confessed he tended to hold back something for reserves and not give everything.
What a brilliant unforgettable evening. One more night left, before the Company departs for the World.
Firebird Ellie Young by ASH
