Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London
June 10, 2023
In a welcome return to the stage, Devotions, the latest programme by McNicol Ballet Collective, featured three works by the company’s founder-director Andrew McNicol alongside an interesting film that focused on the work and contribution made by costume and lighting designers.
It was a show of many pleasures. McNicol is a choreographer who clearly understands and has an affinity with the music he is using. He obviously also very much believes in classical ballet and pointework. His dance, and his dancers, come loaded with artistry. There are lots of clean lines but none of the hyper-extensions and overly complicated lifts that many seem to favour these days.
Photo A Dancers Lens
Reprised from McNicol Ballet Collective’s 2022 programme, Bates Beats takes a little while to get going but develops into an energetic work that reflects nicely the drive of the music of Grammy Award-winning American composer Mason Bates, to which it is danced.
Essentially, it’s an abstract series of neoclassical duets and other small group dances. It’s busy. The action never stops. Movements and moments flow effortlessly into one another, the dancers producing all the attack the work requires.
A short behind-the-scenes documentary between that and the second work, Of Silence, also first seen last year, provided an interesting look at the roles of costume and lighting designers, specifically Louise Flanagan and Andrew Ellis, how their work interconnects with that of the composer and how they can open up new perspectives and help influence how a work is perceived.
That is certainly true for Of Silence, where Ellis’ atmospheric lighting helps define the mood of the piece. Set to choral music by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, the work actually speaks volumes. Melancholy in mood, it has a strong sense of community, connection and belonging, but also comes with a sense of loss, a feeling emphasised by the repeated sight of a consoling hand on a shoulder. The ash-grey or lead-coloured costumes
Moonbend is a new work set to seven tracks from the album Set My Heart on Fire Immediately by Seattle-based indie singer/songwriter Perfume Genius. The stage is dominated by a large LED-rimmed moon that changes colour as the work shifts from song to song. It’s light and varying hues cause British designer Louise Flanagan’s costumes of gold shorts and crop tops, with central figure Greig Matthews in black sparkly trousers, to glitter even more.
But while the costumes may have glittered, Moonbend left me cool. It felt rather empty. There were hints of angst and romance but it felt bitty. Not only did the dance not seem to say anything or go anywhere, but the choreography didn’t excite, or even particualrly engage, either. And if there’s no narrative, it needs to. Again, though, there was no disputing is quality of the dancers.