Dutch National Ballet (live streaming), 28/11/2020

Back to Ballet - Classic

Artists of Dutch National Ballet

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

Koen Kessels

This performance was a sort of mini-version of one of those divertissement programmes the Russian companies are so fond of putting on, a handful of short ballets or extracts designed to show off as much of the company as possible.  Here, it was centred around classical or neo-classical ballet.  As the company's director Ted Brandsen said in his brief introduction, classical ballet is the foundation of the repertoire.  Even for a company whose reputation was made in a far more modern idiom, it is very necessary for dancers to have these techniques ingrained, because it only strengthens anything you may want to attempt afterwards.  As is said, to break the rules, you must first master them.  

First up was a short piece by Balanchine, the Valse-Fantaisie.  Created in 1967, originally as one movement of a four-part suite set to music by Glinka, this had faint undertones of Les Sylphides about it, with one male dancer attended by four female corps and a female partner.  It's not, to my inexperienced eye, immediately identifiable as Balanchine, because his most striking choreography is usually less overtly romantic than this, but it's a lovely homage to the style nonetheless, and charmingly performed by members of the Junior Company.  That said, either the Balanchine Trust (if the Dutch National Ballet is using the original designs) or the company need to revise the costumes, because those pink skirts and stiff grey bodices are not flattering to the ladies.  

Anna Ol and Jozef Varga were the principals for a grave and elegant White Swan pas de deux, from Swan Lake, Ol a melancholy, slightly distant Odette, Varga noble and earnest, both with clean, pure lines, poised and unhurried.  Next came Classical Symphony, set to Prokofiev's 1st Symphony with choreography by Brandsen, entirely for the men of the company.  As Brandsen remarked, in classical ballet the men tend to appear to be less important; it's not that they really are, it's that their function is mostly to show off their partners to their best advantage.  He therefore created a piece to allow the company's men to take centre stage.  Three movements of the symphony (omitting the first) were used, with the last having been choreographed a few years ago, and the other two added during the current season.  I wasn't altogether taken by the Larghetto, not seeing the patterning convincingly, but the Gavotte is an excellent solo number, and Remi Wörtmeyer was impish and joyful, while the Finale fizzed and dazzled delightfully.

Remi Wörtmeyer, Classical Symphony
Dutch National, Ballet, 2020 (screenshot)

Le Corsaire is a terrible dog's dinner of a ballet, music by half-a-dozen (if not more!) composers, choreography by just about as many choreographers.  Although the complete ballet is performed, by Russian companies, as well as a few Western ones (notably, here, English National Ballet), it's best known for a magnificent pas de deux that doesn't actually exist - in this form - in the full ballet.  Although Maia Makhateli and Young Gyu Choi gave a very nice performance, there were little differences with the orchestra which took away from the overall impression.  The big lift was a little early, and there wasn't quite that pinpoint coordination that you need, the last flick of a wrist, the balance at the end of a movement.  I'm sure rehearsal has been a difficult process, but in this kind of repertory any lack tends to show up sharply, especially when there's another similar item immediately after in the programme which is much more crisply delivered.

Like Le Corsaire, Paquita is a hodge-podge piece, music from multiple sources, choreography bolted on in layers like the successive 'modernisations' of a medieval chateau.  Once again, the famous Grand Pas Classique doesn't quite belong in the original ballet, although it's closer than the Corsaire piece, since Petipa created it for the final scene which is basically just wedding celebrations.  I think this is the first time I've ever seen the Petipa pas de trois incorporated into it, however, which was rather interesting.  At any rate, here was that precision I had missed in the Corsaire, the little finishing details which make all the difference to the overall impression.

Jessica Xuan, Paquita
Dutch National Ballet, 2020 (screenshot)

Anna Tsygankova and Constantine Allen were a princely primary couple, clear and confident, Allen making the numerous lifts look easy.  The pas de trois, in a slightly more casual style, featured Nino Tomoli, Riho Sakamoto and Edo Wijnen, bright and fresh, while amongst the demi-soloists, I particularly liked Jessica Xuan's dreamy variation.

[Next : 4th December]