Sparkle, fireworks: Ballet Icons Gala 2025

London Coliseum
March 9, 2025

The 2025 edition of the feast of ballet, with a smattering of more contemporary dance, that is London’s Ballet Icons Gala proved a terrific evening. It was also one that probably contained more chances to see fouttées than most in the audience get in a year. No one disappointed.

Marianela Núñez got off to an uncharacteristically uncertain start in the opening The Sleeping Beauty pas de deux but soon picked up, and with partner William Bracewell gave a good account of this tricky dance. Balances became assured and the partnering gracious. Neither were flattered by some very odd sickly-green lighting though.

Iana Salenko and David Motta Soares were simply delightful in Délibes Suite, José Martinez’s very enjoyable 19th-century pastiche. Salenko brought a fresh, almost girlish charm to the piece, both she and her partner covering the stage thoroughly with each travelling step and jump and providing nuanced moments of stillness that highlighted her virtuosity. The butterfly blue costumes were ravishing, the plate of Salenko’s tutu a puff of a thing that positively bounced along with her vivacity.

Maria Kochetkova and Sebastian Kloberg were compelling in the UK première of Once I Had A Love, a pas de deux, choreographed by Kloberg himself. Mash-ups often sound like a great idea, but equally often do not work. However, the Heart of Class (Crabtree Remix), which fuses the Blondie original with Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No.2 is inspired. Seemingly incongruous, it works eerily well, the Blondie weaving in and out of Glass’ ostinato-cum-keening solo violin like a crazy canticle. Kochetkova and Kloberg mesmerised with daring lifts alternating with floor work as their bodies intertwined.

Madison Young and Victor Caixeta gave a good account of the black swan pas de deux from Swan Lake, Young in particular brittle, self-possessed and teasingly fluid as she mimicked Odette’s poses. Caixeta was equally at home with turns and batterie.

Toujours by Maria Galeazzi and Jason Kittelberger, choreographed by Galleazzi, is a pleasing if somewhat unexciting affair. It was well-danced but left little lasting impression, probably due in part to being sandwiched between two gala favourite classical pas de deux.

Talking of which, Inès McIntosh and Shale Wagman set the house on fire in that from Le Corsaire. Shunning the traditional sky-blue costumes for a white tutu and silver pantaloons, they fair dazzled with bravura virtuosity. McIntosh was both speedy and precise, stopping on a sixpence whenever required. Wagman’s entrance jéte seemed suspended in mid-air: it would be stretching English understatement to incredulity to say that he has ballon. He can also turn like a top, knocking off barrel turns with positive insouciance.

McIntosh and Wagman were not an easy act to follow but Marie-Agnès Guillot, James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight were equally splendid in their new A Stranding, albeit in a very different way. Pett and Clausen-Knight (aka PCK Dance) are some of the most exciting choreographers around. They have a complex understanding of the use of space and partnering that creates a seamless fluidity of motion and much visual interest as well as engaging the emotions.

Vakhtang Chabukiani and Mikhail Messerer are great choreographers who works are rarely performed today and Laurencia was seldom performed outside of the Soviet aegis. Mayara Magri and Giorgi Potskhishvili performed the pas de deux, not as showy as some of the 19th-century works perhaps, but sufficiently exciting and  dramatic to take everyone to the interval very happy indeed.

The failed attempt by Henry Ford to create a form of Americana in inland Brazil and acquire a ready source of rubber into the bargain is a fascinating one. It might even make a good ballet. Quite how the pas de deux from Anna Hop’s Fordlândia, which featured Lucía Lacarra and Matthew Golding wafting a large piece of silk around, relates to this, remains a mystery, however. Dressed in pale grey, the dancers blended into the huge white fabric, meeting and parting but never really conveying any specific meaning. Maybe they represented the ghostly spirits of former residents or the loss of hope? At one point they bring on a chair and dance around it. Film of them on a beach,almost engulfed by waves is projected. Somewhat odd since, while it may have been on the banks of a river, Fordlândia is definitely inland. Perhaps they are Americans returning across the sea?

Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko provided a return to classic Soviet-era choreography with Victor Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique, a firm gala favourite. It is every bit as challenging to the dancers as the 19th-century classics and the couple pulled it off with suitable aplomb.

It is always pleasure to see Balanchine’s Jewels, and Maria Kotchetkova and Osiel Gouneo glittered in Rubies. Kotchetkova brought every ounce of sassiness to her role that requires disciplined, accomplished ballet technique overlaid with the looseness of jazz. Gouneo was a solid partner.

In the Diana and Acteon pas de deux, Margarita Fernandes had a tricky start and subsequently looked a little fragile for a mighty huntress and goddess. António Casalinho however was breathtakingly impressive. Brisé volés are a mere bagatelle to him it seems. He has a big jump and neat batterie and the orchestra almost had to run to keep up with the speed at which he executed turns. This Diana would be a fool to turn him into a stag!

Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball brought the temperature down with To & Fro, a haunting pas de deux danced to Resphigi’s almost impressionist Notturno from his Six Piano Pieces. The title refers to the pendulum motions that inspired Ball’s choreography. He swung Magri back and forth, sometimes upside down, sometimes sideways was always with grace and care. A lovely piece that would fit happily into many a repertoire.

It was a little hard to come back to earth, albeit to a character who is a ghost. Chloe Misseldine and Reece Clarke performed the classic pas de deux from Giselle well as individuals although it was difficult for them to establish a dramatic rapport without the benefit of a full production.

Anna Tsygankova and Giorgi Potskhishvili gave the other UK première of the night, Thando, a curious work by Mthuthuzeli November, who both choreographed it and composed the music. Ostensibly about love, it was performed in a circle of white light which made the dancers look rather like sumo wrestlers.

Maia Makhateli and Timothy van Poucke were awarded the demanding task of closing with evening with the familiar Grand pas de deux from Don Quixote. They didn’t disappoint. Van Poucke was commanding as Basil but it was Makhateli in a stunning red tutu who stole the audience’s hearts. She looked as if she could sustain a balance for minutes but it was in the final coda that she revealed her big surprise. Knocking off single and double fouettés with apparent ease, she retained her fan from the earlier section and managed to alternate opening and closing it with each turn (it’s the closing that’s really tricky).

The English National Ballet Philharmonic provided the live accompaniment, this year conducted by their new principal conductor Vaganova-trained Maria Seletskaya who is one of the very few conductors to have trained and worked in both disciplines. The woodwind were particularly impressive.