International Draft Works

Linbury Theatre, Royal Ballet and Opera, London
April 10, 2025

Watching new choreographers trying their hand at creating dance, many with years of professional dance experience behind them, you realise what a supremely difficult art choreography is. But what joy when the elements align in an exciting new work as happened in Burden from Dutch National Ballet. Lars de Vos, a dancer with ISH Dance Collective, creates a fusion of ballet and hip-hop for Soshi Suzuki and Herrold Anakotta. He skilfully nurtures the dynamics in a well-structured work using the formidable talents of the two, very different, dancers to build a dialogue of harmony with flashes of virtuosity. I hope we see more from him.

Another fusion of difference paired Down’s syndrome actor Ruben Reuter with dancer Kevin Poeung from Northern Ballet in George Liang’s Sky Above, Voices Within. Echoing the harmony of the sky with the inner emotions of the dancers, Liang built an engaging, if slight work. Here also the differences became a strength and the empathy a bonding.

A third male duet, Capriccio from Kit Holder, was a happy merger of Birmingham Royal Ballet, (Holder is Artistic Coordinator of BRB2) and dancers from Acosta Danza. Inspired by René Magritte’s paintings, the dancers start with heads swathed in cloth, unwind to dance and return to finally wrap up together. It’s a clever idea, well costumes and neatly aligned with brief witty text. It was brilliantly interpreted as Alexander Arias and Paul Brando have the dynamism and fierce technique we’ve come to expect from Acosta Danza and the added humour was the cherry on the top!

Cina Espejord from Norwegian National Ballet offered Pages. The theme was a long-term relationship that changes over time. Between each episode the lights fade and we hear the pages turn before the lights reveal a new situation. Using Anton Arensky’s romantic music, the idea worked well opening on a gentle duet between dancers Nora Augustinius and Josh Nagaoka. As the pages of life turn, the partnership encounters obstacles. These build the dynamics adding complexity to the choreography and dramatic challenges for the dancers. It was a well-structured idea and given a fine performance. However, the brief text from a breathless Augustinius added little to the closing moments.

There was plenty of lively chat from the onstage musician, Peter Mpho Mokoen in Joburg Ballet’s Mpho. I was sorry that there were no surtitles but his delivery was certainly entertaining. He also gave an encouraging accompaniment to the three dancers: Daria D’Orazio, Savannah Jacobson and Latoya Mokoen. Mpho, meaning ‘gift,’ is an entertaining work, presented with commitment and with no shortage of ideas from choreographer Tumelo Lekana. The African tradition of maternal figures guiding the adolescent girl provokes interesting moves and could have been taken even further with more contrast in the movements between the three dancers. Likewise, I hope Lekana continues to develop his work on the fusion of dance forms which is such a fertile field.

Stuttgart Ballet’s Heartquake was a surprise on a programme of new works: a romantic relationship, traditionally costumed and choreographed in academic ballet vocabulary. However, with so many well-trained ballet dancers around, we do need choreographers that use and develop the ballet language in addition to more contemporary styles. The theme is ingenuous, Emanuele Babici’s choreography bold and beautiful, especially in the partnering. The performances from Yana Peneva, Abigail Willson-Heisel and Serhii Zharikov were outstanding.

The Royal Ballet offered two works. Ashley Dean’s In Absence aimed high with themes of love, loss and mercy. She had garnered an interesting cast of some of the best dancers and the opening duet between herself and Benjamin Ella using contemporary ballet moves was fluid and eloquent. Into the second half and Henryk Górecki potent Miserere brings with it a host of strong emotions and little time to engage with them. The work possibly needs more time and space to develop and define.

Marcelino Sambé, one of the Royal Ballet’s favourite dancers, made his choreographic debut with Almost Human. The story of Adam and Eve and an apple is augmented with the inclusion of Lilith. The cast were well chosen Viola Pantuso as Lilith, Lukas B Brændsrød as Adam and Rebecca Myles Stewart as Eve. Adam and Lilith enjoying the garden and the apple gave licence for Sambe to explore exciting movement in a duet of close contact and humorous moments of dance with a shared apple. Lilith is exiled and Eve created. Brændsrød’s part in the gestation involves Impressive floor work and now with his new partner the emotions become complex and internalised. The final duet between Steward and Brændsrød is perceptive and caring, the ubiquitous apple appearing for a neat finale. I hope Sambé find time, in his busy schedule, to develop his obvious choreographic talent.

International Draft Works provides a valuable platform for choreographers but equally important is the meeting across borders of these young dancers, the flow of new ideas and new contacts. In the difficult times ahead, it is even more important that the arts continue to cross national boundaries as they have always done; meeting, greeting and dancing together.