English National Ballet School dance PCK and Pita

Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre, Sadler’s Wells
June 19, 2024

English National Ballet School’s Professional Trainee Programme offers graduate students a bridge between formal training and life as a dance professional. This entertaining mixed bill showed them in works ranging from classical ballet, through neo-classical, to very theatrical contemporary.

Most fun was the UK premiere of Arthur Pita´s Death Defying Dances. Originally commissioned by BODYTRAFFIC and premiered in Santa Monica, California in 2016, the it’s a suite of dances set to live recordings of the wonderful Judy Henske singing blues, folk and spirituals. Full of dark humour and fabulous music, it is an absolute delight.

Pita makes much use of Henske’s trademark chatty stage patter that preludes most of the numbers. They are amusing enough in themselves, but it’s all ramped up by the young cast, who clearly enjoyed performing the piece as much as the audience did watching it, quite brilliantly acting and dancing out the stories told. The timing was spot on throughout. Even the miming, which so often looks terrible and is usually an absolute no-no, was perfect.

Among the stories is ‘Love Henry,’ which Henske begins by whimsically re-telling the tale of a man who calls on a lady friend, but who makes the mistake of saying he couldn’t stay because, “There’s a lady ten times fairer than you waiting in Lord Barnet’s hall.” Henske, and then the dancers as it is illustrated in movement, draw you in, toying with you, before switching to the deliciously dark ending.

‘Hooka Tooka,’ described as “a children’s number from the red light district of Chicago,” tells of its supposed origins as a song which the street kids would sing if the cops were seen to alert their prostitute mothers that a bust was imminent, so the adults could switch to innocent activities such as “painting little designs on the backs of turtles.” And yes, there was an orange and a blue turtle on the stage. And a green dog, a red cockerel; and yellow, purple and red rabbits.

There are many more including ‘Wading in the Water,’ complete with slight echoes of Ailey; and an impressive male duet for Jonah Glickman and Aaron Lind that ends with a kiss, to ‘Danny Boy.’

The costumes are equally colourful and vibrant. Brightly painted tights, corsets and hot pants are everywhere. And just in case you didn’t get the message, ‘Love Sucks’ is written in big letters on the stage.

Programmed to Collapse, a new work by James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight (PCK Dance) is yet more evidence of the duo’s choreographic talent.

The well-crafted work is firmly rooted in neoclassical ballet (with the women on pointe), but comes allied with more contemporary elements. It all fuses very nicely and, along with music by Sean Pett, James’ brother, makes for a very appealing whole.

The ensemble dance is especially powerful; aggressive even. Big extensions, although not as extreme as Wayne McGregor might go for, are a repeated feature. With its many comings and goings, it does feel a little busy at times, however, and the work is certainly at its best in its many, largely calmer, duets.

Those duets provide ample opportunities for individuals to shine. Some feel abstract but many appear to come with little hints of buried narrative, none more so that that for the cast’s two men, Glickman and Aayush Sharma, who take turns to hold and support each other in beautifully flowing choreography.

The six short classical solos that opened the programme gave a brief glimpse of the dancers’ classical technique. Christina Cecere showed lots of quick, neat footwork in her delightful dance from Act II of Alexander Gorsky’s La Fille mal gardée (music by Peter Ludwig Hertel). Clémentine Boullé danced with lots of well-directed attack and energy, but without ever appearing flashy, in the ‘Hebe Variation’ from Petipa’s one-act ballet, The Awakening of Flora. Most impressive was Glickman, however, who came with super leaps and turns, all perfectly finished, his variation from in Petipa’s equally rarely seen here, The Talisman.

As enjoyable as it was, the format felt odd however, being very reminiscent of a competition. It was presumably done to give the feel of a studio but I’m also far from convinced that having the non-dancing quintet watch while standing in ballet pose against a barre, looking anything but at ease, before politely applauding each dance was a good idea.

English National Ballet School’s annual summer performance is at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre on July 4, as part of the Royal Opera House’s Next Generation Festival. Performed by all three ENBS year groups, the performance includes Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs, Andrew McNicol’s Of Space & Time, alongside Pina Bausch’s 1972 work, Tannhäuser-Bacchanal, and her rather more well-know Nelken Line walking dance from Nelken.