Dances of life: Bundesjugendballett

Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London
June 27, 2024

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul” is the motto of John Neumeier’s Bundesjugendballett, the latest overseas visitors to this year’s Next Generation Festival at the Royal Opera House. Founded in 2011 and under the direction of Kevin Haigen ever since, the ensemble of eight graduate dancers aged 18-23 from across Europe brims with talent, their double bill making for a terrific evening, one filled with energy, passion and fine dancing. As a bonus, both works featured live music.

In the Blue Garden pays homage to the company’s founder. Premiered by Hamburg Ballet in 1994, and to Maurice Ravel’s composition Ma Mère l’Oye, the young dancers, aided and abetted by former Stuttgart Ballet and Dutch National Ballet principal Marijn Rademaker, captivated in choreography that alludes to the fleetingness of the moment.

A red ship carried aloft by one of the cast brings various figures to the stage. The vessel appears more a metaphor for life than real, however. The characters are described rather than named. A Girl (the young and innocent looking Ayumi Kato), wears a white dress. A Woman (Almudena Izquierdo) appears in red and a veil. The Blind Man (Moisés Romero) shuffles around in what appears to be old military dress. A Stranger (the impish Guiseppe Conte) is dressed in black. Those four are supported by The Echo, two couples in black.

The four lead figures meet, dance and part as the stage becomes a place of encounter as they search for, find and then lose each other. While there is no plot as such, In the Blue Garden does come with a strong sense of time and the transience of life. Departure and moving on never seems far away.

Also never far away is the presence of Rademaker, a figure in long black coat and black hat, the latter pulled down so one rarely sees his eyes. Known simple as ‘He,’ he’s mysterious, enigmatic, and at times a little threatening. He’s a figure apart, controlling what is happening around him. He seems to cast a particular spell on the Girl, at one point even intimidating her with a knife and an apple.

Firmly rooted in classical ballet with the women on pointe, the choreography is intense and physical. The partnering, often tricky, was exceptionally good.

In the Blue Garden is a beautiful, soulful piece, and it is gripping. But while the young dancers were technically flawless, I couldn’t help thinking just how much older performers, with a good deal more life experience, might add to its poetry and depth. I also suspect it would look better on a larger stage and at a greater distance, as originally staged. It would certainly have had a more dreamlike quality.

In totally different vein, BJB Songbook (or What We Call Growing Up) is a collective work of twelve sections that sees the dance and music mixed intelligently with thought-provoking texts about today’s world by Charlotte Larzelere, who performs some of them herself.

The dancers, musicians and singers are equally involved in the action throughout, everyone getting to act as stage crew shifting the set’s many boxes as well as performing. The musicians do a fabulous job of making the works many transitions feel almost seamless.

Dancer Milla Loock sets the tone in an opening monologue that outlines opened by speaking a brief text that graphically outlines the unease of growing up. “We don’t know what truth is, but we keep looking, anyway,” she says.

The dance that follows, set to eight songs from the 1950s to the present-day speaks of the mixed emotions of youth. The cast, largely in jeans and casual dress, are utterly committed. They perform with great abandon. One senses this is very much who they are as artists, and indeed, as people.

The choreography echoes the text in hinting at the mixed emotions of growing up and forging a path in today’s complicated world. More text refers to the worries and fears many have.: climate change, gender issues, violence against women, AIDS and HIV. “The future scares me. Somehow, even the present scares me,” we hear. “Why does nothing change? Why do we have to live in fear? What will end first, the planet or the people.”

Despite being created by several different guest choreographers, almost exclusively from the younger generation, the ensemble sections in particular do start to feel a little ‘samey,’ however. There are times when a little more control and direction might be called for.

It is no coincidence, perhaps, that the best moments come as duets, among them, ‘Hide and Seek’ by former Hamburg Ballet soloist Marc Jubete (who London audiences recently saw in Alina Cojocaru’s La Strada) to music by Imogen Heep. Impressively performed by Conte and Romero, it’s a dance of many supports that emphasises the need for each other. Equally impressive was ‘Just Like A Woman/Natural Woman,’ created by two more former Hamburg Ballet dancers, Sasha Riva and Sara Ezzell to music by Bob Dylan and Carole King, in which Conte was joined by Kato.

The rousing finale sees the dancers themselves speak on voiceover of the issues facing the world today. “Why do we feel so helpless?” one asks. But a sense of hope comes with a buzzing final dance to Tracy Chapman’s ‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution.’

BJB Songbook is quite a ride. A dance about life, that’s full of life. And rather inspiring.