Strictly Dancing * * *
Birmingham Royal Ballet
at Birmingham Hippodrome
Review by Susan Turner
Where Edward II was one for the men, Strictly Dancing - the second part of Birmingham Royal Ballet's autumn season - gives the women in the company opportunity to dazzle.
The diverse bill takes the audience from the glittering chandeliers and classical grandeur of Petipa's Paquita to the mirrored ball of Tywla Tharp's tribute to ballroom and Sinatra, and finally to a revival of Ashton's Daphnis and Chloe bathed in the light and colours of the Mediterranean.
Paquita, last aired by BRB in 1994, is pure opulence - spectacularly demanding choreography, a sweeping score, rich gold drapes and sparkling tutus for the women. Nao Sakuma was an exquisite principal ballerina. Her classical technique in such roles is considerable and she executed a long series of turning fouettes en pointe (a forerunner to the infamous 32 in Petipa's Swan Lake) with apparent ease.
Chi Cao may have been outnumbered 15 to one in the ballet, but his giant leaps and turns screamed "just look what I can do!"
First performed by BRB 16 months ago, Nine Sinatra Songs (strictly speaking it's eight) is a fabulous and highly topical addition to the company's repertory. The seven tuxedoed and Oscar de la Renta gowned couples waltz, tango and get seriously sexy to the best of Sinatra's recordings from the 1960s.
All the couples were superb although particular favourites were Victoria Marr and Tyrone Singleton in the sizzling One for My Baby number and Angela Paul and Chi Cao in the edgy That's Life.
Daphnis and Chloe, the final piece in the programme, was created by Sir Frederick Ashton for Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes and is a significant acquisition for BRB, having never been done before in this country outside the Royal Ballet.
Iain Mackay and Elisha Willis in the title roles made an attractive young couple in what is an unlikely story about a goatherd falling for a shepherdess who is kidnapped by pirates, rescued by Pan and eventually reunited with her man.
The painter John Craxton designed the sets and costumes more than half a century ago, yet they looked modern and fresh. The exception being Chloe's final outfit - a red velvet jacket and white skirt that might have come from a dressing-up box and which were at odds with the simple dresses, shirts and trousers in earthy Mediterranean hues worn by the rest of the ensemble.
Still, the ballet moves along at a fair pace to a rousing score by Ravel, unfortunately marred on the opening night by noise from a speaker, possibly left on following the Sinatra piece. Another gripe is that the two scene changes make for a restless audience which in turn disrupts the flow of the ballet.
* Running time: Two hours, 35 minutes. Until Saturday.
