A celebratory showcase: Ballet Icons Gala

London Coliseum
February 19, 2023

In front of a packed Coliseum, the 2023 edition of the Ballet Icons Gala presented fifteen pieces, from familiar showpiece pas de deux to less well-known duets and solos. It was a little bit of a mixed evening, albeit one with a lot more ups than downs. On the whole though, a celebratory showcase for all that is great about dance.

The gala may have brought overseas stars from far and wide, but some of the best moments came from those just down the road at Covent Garden including Yasmine Naghdi and Reece Clarke, who got things off to a fine start in the passionate, rapturous bedroom pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon.

Another impressive duo from The Royal Ballet danced the penultimate dance of the first half, Marianela Núñez and William Bracewell serving up an exemplary Grand pas de deux from Marius Petipa’s Coppélia. Nuñez was full of gorgeously steely technique while Bracewell imbued everything with just that right dash of rascally fun. It all felt very fresh and light. Even a bit romantic.

Best of all, though, was the Oberon and Titania pas de deux from Frederick Ashton’s The Dream. The ballet can feel very twee but the returning Bracewell, this time with Francesca Hayward, made it feel anything but. It is far from my favourite ballet but they were, quite simply, stunning. Loaded with style, it was an object lesson in dance speaking with subtlety.

“Ballet is woman,” George Balanchine famously observed. Well, maybe, but certainly not in the evening’s rendition of Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, which seemed all about Daniil Simkin, who asserted himself throughout, pulling out all the stops, getting amazing height on all his jumps and pulling out the super-fast turns he’s known for. Partner Maia Makhateli danced very smartly too, although her contributions were rather more nuanced.

But while it’s a pas de deux full of full of audience appeal and virtuosity, for some reason it didn’t quite hit the heights or sparkle as it should. Perhaps it was that imbalance between the two, although it also seemed to be lacking stylistically. It didn’t look particularly Balanchine.

Very different in mood was the following Chopin Romance by Liam Scarlett, originally created for the 2018 centenary of Polish independence, performed by English National Ballet’s Katja Khaniukova and Aitor Arrieta. Danced to Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor, it is deliciously delicate and sophisticated. The duet is open to a lot of interpretations, including romantic ones, but, starting slowly but then gradually building, it’s easy to see the hints at the growing confidence a new country and its people feel. Scarlett’s passing was sad loss. Thankfully, he left a few gems like this.

Best of the unfamiliar duets, at least choreographically, was Edwaard Liang’s Borealis, however. About the love cycle in a relationship, it’s elegant and aesthetically pleasing. It’s a window into a couple’s relationship. To music by Max Richter, Lucia Lacarra and Matthew Golding gave us two people experiencing different emotions during the day that then transform into a slightly dreamy, starry night. Full of long lines and beautifully held poses it is quite simply gorgeous.

Design-wise, the dramatic initial backdrop of a red sunset (it later changes to an equally stunning star-filled sky) is matched by the colours of the costumes, dark grey for him, lovely ombre red running into black for her. Not so good was the cut of her dress. Very loose with waist high slits both sides, it left absolutely nothing to the imagination on lifts, of which there are quite a lot.

The Grand pas de deux from Rudolf Nureyev’s Cinderella, set in 1930s Hollywood, was decidedly underwhelming, however. Even the best efforts of the Paris Opera Ballet’s Dorothée Gilbert and Audric Bezard couldn’t save it. Her costume did ooze period chic, though, complete with a super fascinator.

Twelve years ago, at the Coliseum, English National Ballet danced Roland Petit’s Carmen. My memory is that it was loaded with red hot passion. Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko were both assured technically but the only thing smouldering was the cigarette they shared. There was certainly very little sensuousness or sexiness.

The evening saw four solos including, without doubt, the gala’s most riveting performance by Jeffrey Cirio in an excerpt from Akram Khan’s Creature, soon to be back at Sadler’s Wells. The choreography may not be everyone’s idea of ballet but Cirio was incredibly expressive. Every movement, every gesture was deeply felt and loaded with intent and meaning. He was quite stunning.

Best of the others was Moonlight, choreographed and danced by Calvin Royal III. Performed to music by Claude Debussy, it’s soft, soft, sublime and gentle, dreamy, nostalgic and poetic.

Elsewhere, Sergio Bernal in striking red performed his own Temperament, and strong and macho flamenco-inspired affair. But for all his power, it said little.

In Elevarsi, performed to Max Richter, choreographer-dancer Giuseppe Picone seems not entirely at ease with himself but quite why is elusive. In his programme note, he says that we should all raise our souls to the sky. Perhaps that’s why there are lots of bird like arms.

Three gala regulars provided the obligatory fireworks. Iana Salenko and Dmitry Zagrebin ended the first half on a high with that old favourite, the Grand pas de deux from Don Quixote. Both powered through the choreography, Salenko pulling off the best fouettés of the night, while also managing to be quite elegant.

Evelina Godunova and Julian MacKay made the Flames of Paris pas de deux look easy.

The closing firecrackers came courtesy of the very young Margarita Fernandes and António Casalinho (he’s 19, she’s only 17) and Le Corsaire. The Bayerisches Staatsballett dancers have everything technically but artistically one hopes there is still development to come. It did feel a little one-dimensional, and both still have a bit of a lack of presence.

In the pit, and very unusually, the English National Ballet Philharmonic missed their mark occasionally, guest conductor Maria Seletskaja taking things a tad too slowly. Nina Kobiashvili’s themed projections worked very well as backdrops, however.

Footnote

It’s a fact that galas tend to attract infrequent ballet-goers. It’s also a fact that what is acceptable conduct changes over time. And I get that people want a memento. Even so, there are limits and this year’s Ballet Icons Gala saw by far the worst behaviour I have ever experienced. Flash photography mid-dance, filming (not even attempting to do it surreptitiously), reading the programme with phone lights during pieces, posting on social media. It was all going on incessantly. So much so that a long announcement asking people to desist was made at the end of the interval. Some of it is dangerous for dancers. All of it is disrespectful to performers, to the art and to others in the audience. The ushers were doing their best to stop it, but only finished up making the disruption worse with their constant dashing up and down the aisles.

Maybe it’s time to insist that persistent offenders leave. It’s not as though there are no announcements or printed instructions and requests. Overseas, I have seen people removed for filming and ushers very publicly stand over people during the interval while phone content is deleted. The latter is especially a very effective deterrent to others. I’m not sure what the answer is, but something needs to be done.